CORPORATE SUCCESSION PRACTICES: A PUBLIC SECTOR PERSPECTIVE

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Abstract

In today’s globally competitive and modern environments, organisational future plans often fail due to the lack of succession planning. Literature has shown that in most public services, very little is done to transfer employee skills before they leave the organisation, which largely is attributed to the lack of proper corporate succession planning. This study examined the association between corporate succession planning practices, internal succession barriers and intentions to leave within a public service in South Africa. The study was inspired by the absence of documented evidence of corporate succession planning initiatives, the barriers to succession planning and turnover intentions of employees in the public sector in the South African context. The study is located within a quantitative research paradigm in which a three-section structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 243 public service employees. Two factors; namely, replacement planning and employee development/grooming were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. The Pearson correlation coefficient showed that corporate succession planning practices and internal succession barriers are negatively related to intentions to leave in the public service. Regression analysis showed that replacement planning and employee grooming are predictors of intention to quit. The results of the study are significant in that they facilitate the development as well as the effective implementation of succession planning initiatives that enable public services to improve human resource practices and counter any existing barriers to internal succession.

Keywords: Succession Planning, Internal Succession Barriers, Turnover and Intention to Leave

How to cite this paper: Pita, N. A., Mafini, C., & Dhurup, M. (2016). Corporate succession practices: A public sector perspective. Corporate Ownership & Control, 13(4-3), 441-446. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv13i4c3p3