Building a Strong Bench
Building your bench is a concept that is crucial for the long-term success and resilience of your organisation’s success. It allows you to plan and ensure you have cover in key areas of your business.
At its core, building your bench is all about strengthening the capabilities of your leadership team to ensure you have a robust succession plan in place for any eventuality. Whether it’s a senior leader being promoted, resigning, going on leave, or facing unforeseen challenges, having a strong bench ensures you can maintain continuity and business performance.
Rather than waiting for a crisis to occur, it is essential to proactively assess the strengths and skills of your leaders and establish a comprehensive succession plan that can be activated at a moment’s notice.
So, how do you get started? One approach is to create a simple table (spreadsheet) that lists each team member, their role, responsibilities, required skills, qualifications, and other relevant attributes they bring to the table. Using color-coding to indicate proficiency levels can help you identify any skill gaps and prioritise areas for development.
By taking proactive steps to build your bench, you can ensure you are well-prepared to navigate any challenges and continue driving success for your organisation.
• Green: Highly competent
• Orange: Competent but may need training
• Red: Unable to perform that function
This will help identify the gaps and development opportunities in your team. If you find you have a sea of red – you need to plug that gap asap! If it is orange, then place a training plan into action to raise the competency.
Drawing inspiration from the world of sports. Just like in any great sports team, it is crucial to have backup players who can seamlessly step in when a key player is unavailable.
Having key positions and skills adequately covered is essential for maintaining a balanced and resilient team. By ensuring you have all the necessary support where needed, you can enhance your ability to overcome challenges and achieve your goals.
Building a strong bench isn’t just about having a plan in place; it’s also about fostering a culture of excellence within your team. By promoting a mindset of continuous improvement and development, you can propel your organisation and team to greater heights.
If you are not sure where to start, then, let’s work together to strengthen your bench and ensure you’re well-prepared for whatever challenges come your way!
Hello Monday is here to help you build your bench and enhance your team’s capabilities. Contact us at hello@hellomonday.co.nz or call us at 09 377 5200.