Questions by D’Najah Thomas
Succession planning is a crucial component of organizational sustainability, ensuring that entities can navigate the challenges of an evolving workforce landscape. In housing and residence life, effective leadership transitions are essential for maintaining quality student services and supportive living environments. A well-executed succession plan aligns the current and future needs of housing and residence life programs with the professional development aspirations of employees, making sure that the right individuals are equipped to assume leadership roles and drive continuous improvement. By identifying critical positions and nurturing the next generation of leaders, we can implement a seamless transition of skills and knowledge, promoting sustainability and growth. This strategic process not only safeguards against disruptions in leadership continuity but also facilitates a culture of mentorship, learning, and career progression that empowers employees to reach their full potential.
As colleges and universities strive to meet the diverse needs of their student populations, proactive succession planning in housing and residence life emerges as a strategic imperative for maintaining a vibrant and engaging campus living experience. The Talking Stick spoke with three senior housing leaders to get insight into their personal philosophy and administrative approach to succession planning on their campuses: Kathy Bush Hobgood, associate vice president for auxiliary enterprises at Clemson University; Mary Janz, executive director of housing and residence life at Marquette University; and Von Stange, assistant vice-president for student life at the University of Iowa.
Looking at your career journey, what lessons or experiences have shaped your perspectives on leadership, legacy, and succession planning that you believe are important for future leaders to consider?
Kathy Bush Hobgood: This is an area within which my views have definitely shifted over the last five years. A campus reorganization resulted in my team moving from student affairs into the division of finance and operations. There are good business-minded professionals in both divisions, but in my new role I was exposed to a new thought process related to succession planning in general. Always a concept that was "nice to have,” I have reframed succession planning as an elemental business need that falls within my fiduciary responsibility to protect the overall operation. Yes, we can and do bring in new-to-campus talent, and that fresh view is important for organizational growth and innovation. However, whenever we can train internally and foster the long-range development of an individual who is already a part of our culture and team and has the context and skills needed to hit the ground running, we should do so.
Mary Janz: One of the most important things for leaders to do is provide opportunities for those within their supervision to test the waters in order to experience or learn about the role and the tasks at hand. This should be done in calculated ways and with support, so it is not simply a matter of dumping parts of the role on them but instead provides them with true experience that they can use in future interviews for the senior housing officer role. Good leaders lead in what appears to be effortless ways. You can learn just as much about being a strong leader by working for someone who falls short. Consider what you might do to be more effective in leading, and then test those tactics. Finally, pay attention to those who raise their hands to take on an extra responsibility, ask good questions to understand the reason behind a decision, and come to work with a positive attitude most days. This could be the next person to step into your role as you step out.
Von Stange: My professional career journey is now at 40 years, and there continue to be opportunities to shape my perspectives on a variety of things. Over the years I’ve learned to ask questions, knowing that there is more than one way of doing things well. Networking with other professionals by attending conferences and participating in informal conversations has allowed me to see what others are doing with respect to leadership, legacy, and succession. I am constantly awed by the incredible talent in our profession and strive to learn from them. I rarely ask myself what my legacy will be in the profession; I am satisfied with the notion that my leadership and work helped make the college experience better for students living on campus.
What role do you believe senior leadership should play in championing and supporting succession planning efforts throughout your organization?
Stange: Any leader with a commitment to their organization (and perhaps their legacy) must play an active role in succession efforts. One of the best things a leader should be able to say regarding their tenure at an organization is “I left it better than I found it.” That means preparing your leadership to be ready to assume higher levels of responsibility, either in the short term or the long term. If I leave (or have to go on leave for any reason) and I haven’t prepared my team to excel without me, then I haven’t left my organization better than I found it. If for some reason a leader is not able to lead, someone else will need to do it. Who will that be, and are they prepared to take on an expanded role?
Hobgood: The role can vary from broad-scale efforts to formal succession planning. A very formal succession plan can include the role of a true second in command or chief of staff who has direct responsibilities but must also provide on-the-job training and the learning and preparation needed for the senior or next role. One level of planning below that might be a dedicated mentorship program or a leader who is willing to take someone along to a meeting they don’t really need to attend but can benefit from listening in on. A less dedicated or detailed plan could include things like local skills training programs and investments in professional development. Succession planning can also include things like creating the general conditions for transparency and openness in regard to what each position does and clarifying what that leader’s experience is within that role.
Janz: Senior leadership is key in the process of succession planning for the full unit, in addition to their own role. We sometimes sit with an almost external view of the leaders in our unit, which can allow for objective observations that may not be noticeable to them as managers. I suggest not feeling threatened when your chief housing officer notices the work of someone on your staff. This speaks to how you lead and develop staff within your department. It may even add a spark to your employee’s performance as they wait for a next-step vacancy.
How do you perceive the role of legacy building within the context of succession planning, and what steps did you take to ensure a seamless continuation of your work and vision?
Janz: Transparency and candor with your senior staff are at the heart of building a legacy and planning for your succession. Inviting senior staff to the table when making critical decisions for the department or weighing in on ideas and thoughts regarding division-wide decisions allows them to think in bigger ways: a looking out for the greater good of the department and division, not thinking in a siloed way. In addition to this, providing feedback about the skills and traits needed for the next step in one-to-one meetings can prove helpful. Discussing feedback and putting ideas into action are also strategic steps for taking over.
Stange: Some supervisors take the approach of trying to protect their staff from the work they do so that their supervisees don’t feel overwhelmed. That approach robs our staff of the opportunity to learn the hows and whys of our work. I have shared my timeline for retirement with my team and have been working with them to provide opportunities to learn about all aspects of my role within the department, division, and university. Sharing information about budgeting and facilities planning, providing them with opportunities to interact with other departments and divisions on behalf of our department, discussing the politics that comes with the responsibility of setting room and board rates, and responding to queries from the Board of Regents are all part of the succession planning process. The work is primarily informal and continues on a regular basis.
Hobgood: Legacy building as a concept feels more personal to me and seems in some necessary ways to be separate from the succession plan. A good succession plan should not necessarily have as one of its goals ensuring a future that is about me or is about a program continuing to evolve the way that I would want it to or would have done.
How do you define the key goals and objectives of succession planning within your organization, and what impact do you believe it has on the overall leadership pipeline?
Janz: Clear strategic goals must be set for the organization in order to understand what is important or required for succession planning. Those who step up to learn, define, and construct the strategic goals or make the effort to learn and incorporate those goals into their work are on their way to becoming prime candidates for a succession plan. Determining a person’s ability to move into a new role should certainly entail evaluation of their ability to perform the essential tasks of the role. But other qualifications are also important, such as thinking critically, being able to make a difficult decision, understanding the financial plan, being willing to learn, and having a positive attitude. When rising to a new role, things can be ambiguous and time consuming in the early days, but patience and persistence are key factors.
Stange: The goal of succession planning is to hire the best person for the job. That may or may not be an internal candidate. If a strong leader has built a good bench and one of them will take the unit or department to the next level, they may be the best person for the job. A unit or department may need a change of culture, which may make an external candidate the best option. Ultimately, we want our team members to know that there are opportunities for advancement in our organization. Those opportunities provide continuity, longevity, and improved morale within the team. It’s also important to follow up with internal candidates who aren’t selected, give them feedback on their candidacy, and encourage them to work on their deficits and apply again.
What strategies or processes have been implemented to identify and develop high-potential employees as part of the succession planning efforts?
Hobgood: Like much of growth and development, it often takes both the supervisor and other leaders to see talent in someone and to foster that. One of the things I have found important is to continue to be part of staff events so that I can be more than a name or figurehead. In those spaces I try to demonstrate that I am open and willing to have lunch or other casual meetings in order to share my career story and professional leadership journey. Those conversations keep me connected with folks that I am not in everyday meetings with but who have an interest in growth, service, and development that I can then help foster.
Stange: Identifying high-potential employees is relatively easy. You see it in their work and demeanor. Providing developmental opportunities for them is a good formal way of improving their skills to prepare them for the next position. Informally, it involves taking the time to talk with that staff member to learn about their strengths and areas for improvement and then putting together a personalized development plan for them separate from their performance review process. Sharing tips on how supervisors manage their positions and people, along with their willingness to listen to their team members to recognize their blind spots, are effective tools that benefit both the supervisor and aspiring employee.
Janz: Our human resources department has developed a course for all full-time staff supervising full-time professionals. The course is free and works to develop next steps for current employees, preparing them for the rigor that may await them in a step up. Within my own department, I encourage workshops, webinars, and conferences with a specific focus on what the staff needs in order to make that move to the next level. I offer opportunities that cross my desk for staff to serve on university and division-wide committees, providing not only a new experience but also the opportunity to network across campus. High-potential employees are typically eager to raise their hand to take on a project or to take initiative when something needs to be done.
How does your organization achieve a balance between promoting internal talent for key leadership positions and considering external candidates during succession planning?
Hobgood: This is a great question and important consideration. Part of this conversation is about knowing what your goal is for that role at that time. A great many people may be qualified for a role, both internal and external, but who is the right person to serve in that position at that time? Is your goal to move it in a way that an internal person may not be able to? Are fresh eyes needed, or is it a time when stability is more important? Do you need to diversify your team in thought process, demographics, or skill set?
Stange: I believe we do both equally and effectively. We have many levels of talent in our department, ranging from custodians and food workers to my position. We encourage internal staff to apply for next-level positions when they become available. In some of the blue collar positions, the increase in pay doesn’t match the increase in responsibility, which makes it hard to recruit any viable candidates. Those are key leadership positions: supervising custodians, maintenance staff, and cooks. We all know that if these supervisors aren’t skilled in their jobs, our students will be negatively impacted. We need to find people who want to have additional responsibilities and provide them with leadership and supervisory training prior to taking on those roles.
Janz: This is taken on a case-by-case or position-by-position basis. Depending on the level of the position, a search firm may be used to find potential successors. This approach certainly invites external candidates to apply. The timing for this may depend on the readiness of the next person up when looking at internal succession plans. That’s why it is imperative in each of our roles to provide useful feedback and opportunity to those in line. That is how I moved to my executive director role. I worked hard, raised my hand for new experiences, used my own connections and leadership opportunities across my ACUHO-I connections, and took feedback to heart by making changes where necessary.
Looking towards the future, what do you envision as the evolving trends and priorities in succession planning, and how can organizations adapt to these changes to ensure continued success and growth?
Stange: The future of succession planning will be interesting as multiple generations of staff continue to work together. There is variety among the generations when it comes to organizational loyalty. Continually assessing your talent and determining the needs of your organization are equally important. Just as you expect your staff to grow to add value to the organization, the organization must assess the program and jobs to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their customers and staff. You always want to keep the best and the brightest, but there are times when their talents don’t align with the jobs in our organization. There may be value in creating jobs that match the adapting needs of your organization, as well as the talent of your best and brightest.
Janz: Particularly in student affairs, I believe the responsibility will be on us to prepare our staff for promotion and next steps. With fewer people currently entering the higher education workforce, we will need to prioritize succession planning and the future of our departments. I believe we are on the cusp of these discussions. Providing opportunities to take part in or to lead in responsibilities outside of current roles (along with professional development opportunities and certifications programs on campus and across trade associations such as ACUHO-I) will play a key role.
D’Najah Thomas is director of The Placement Exchange.
