Too Little, Too Late

WeVe all heard that there will be a shortage of qualified professionals in the marketplace in the near future. The baby boomers will retire, and there are grave concerns that there won't be enough qualified replacements to fill the empty technical and managerial slots.

This isn't a new lament; it's one that I've heard regularly for more than 10 years. Given that it's fairly easy to track the labor availability trends, it's easy to believe that this is a real, rather than imagined, problem that our organizations will face in the not-so-distant future.

But why can't we address this problem before a crisis hits? If we know today that we're going to need people with specific knowledge and skills in 2015, why aren't we taking the actions today that will have us prepared then?

These are the questions that stimulated the discussion of succession planning in this issue of The Journal for Quality and Participation. We hope you'll find some of the insights presented by the authors useful for your organizations.

We start off the issue with an overview of the topic, "Succession Planning Facts and Fantasies." We hope that the information, including some statistics, included here will help you get a better understanding of what's really happening in our workplaces.

Sylvia Gaffney describes the critical linkage between career development and succession planning processes, D. Kevin Berchelman explains why succession planning is the only concrete strategy to ensure an organization won't be crippled when openings occur, and Martin Haworth shares some sage tips on how organizations can create an environment that fosters career development and succession planning.

There's something a bit different about this issue of JQP, too. We have a special section on shared values, featuring two articles related to the landmark business book, A Journey Into the Heroic Environment, by Rob Lebow. Originally published in ; 1990, this book was recently reissued with 70% of its content updated. More than 300,000 business leaders have learned how to create a freedom-based organization since the book's initial publication, and we're pleased not only to offer an allegory that summarizes the Shared Values Process® but also to include a case study on the process' application.

As you consider the concepts, practices, facts, and data presented in this issue's articles, we hope you'll find them useful -and that you'll take a moment to express your opinions by writing to me at debhopen@nventure.com.

Deborah Hopen

Editor

Copyright Association for Quality and Participation Fall 2005
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