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Succession planning is critical to the long-term success of any organization, but it doesn’t come easy when we consider generational turnover, people intentionally stepping down the career ladder and the pace of workplace change.
According to data from recruiting firm Robert Half, most companies don’t have a clear plan for what comes next after senior leaders leave with 42 per cent of Canadian organizations currently having a comprehensive, documented succession plan in place.
Now add artificial intelligence into the mix and the challenge becomes more complex.
Among the 1,482 professionals surveyed, one of the most significant ways AI is reshaping leadership pipelines is the accelerated promotion of AI-savvy employees, with 54 per cent of hiring managers saying workers with AI competencies are rising more quickly in organizations.
“AI isn’t just changing how work is getting done, but it’s really changing who’s ready to lead,” says Koula Vasilopoulos, senior managing director at Robert Half Canada.
Accelerated promotions are just one piece of the shift. AI is also fundamentally changing the skills required of future leaders and, in some cases, reducing the number of entry-level positions available, which are the roles that have traditionally served as the first rung on the leadership ladder.
While rapid ascension sounds exciting, there are also risks for the companies that fast-track technical talent and skip over some of the foundational experience that builds judgment and people leadership skills.
That’s why Ms. Vasilopoulos says ‘AI literacy’ isn’t just about using the latest tools, but about who can use the technology with accountability, governance and ethics at the forefront, backed by the soft skills to match. Robert Half’s data puts critical thinking and problem-solving at the top of that list for what companies should look for when picking a leader, followed closely by adaptability, continuous learning, creativity and innovation.
“Succession planning is no longer about replacing roles, but preparing for the future, a different kind of workplace, a vision,” she says.
As succession planning evolves, Ms. Vasilopoulos says companies need to clearly define future leadership competencies, invest in reskilling current employees and build multi-path succession plans that account for emerging technology. That means moving away from the traditional model of preparing one person for one role, and instead developing a broader bench of internal talent across a range of potential positions.
“From a business standpoint, succession planning is not something that can be optional today. It’s something that ultimately is a resiliency strategy,” Ms. Vasilopoulos says.
Fast fact
Lost jobs
6.7 per cent
That’s Canada’s unemployment rate after the economy lost a net 83,900 jobs in February, driven by a sharp decline in full-time positions, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Career guidance
Smarter strategies
Advancing your career used to follow a clear path: work hard and get promoted or switch jobs. In today’s market, that path is far less reliable as hiring slows, fewer people leave and entry-level roles shrink.
According to nonprofit executive and career mentor Michael Collins, the key is to focus on signalling value, not just doing your job well. That means actively building relevant skills through employer-sponsored training, using AI to take on higher-value work and clearly communicate your impact and investing in relationships that increase your visibility across the organization.
Quoted
Inbox identity
“It felt like a purge, liberating and final in equal measure. Yet, somehow, I felt more sentimentality at changing digital addresses than I ever did picking up stakes and moving physical homes. In a world of change, there was a comfort in knowing I was, in theory, in the same place I’d always been. A collision of past and present, stored somewhere in a digital cloud,” writes Suzanne Westover in this personal essay about the emotional and practical process of abandoning a long-term email address.
On our radar
Startup survival
AI is shortening the lifespan of startups in a way we haven’t seen before, with venture capitalists seeing returns in months or even weeks instead of years. However, as this article in Fortune showcases, even the most promising companies can find themselves at risk, as a single product update from a major AI player can quickly reshape the competitive landscape.