TORQUAY LEANDER SUCCESSION PLANNING POLICY 2008

1. Introduction

Torquay Leander Swimming Club recognises the need to be able to find the right people with the right skills and competencies to be able to fill key roles within the Club (committee, coaching, official and teaching positions) as they arise. One specific aspect of effective workforce development planning is the practice of "Succession Planning", which the Club intend to embrace in order to help to build the necessary capacity required.

2. What is 'Succession Planning'

Succession planning can be broadly defined as identifying future potential swimmers, committee members, volunteers, teachers and coaches to fill key positions as they arise. The practice can help organisations to ensure that they have the right people of the right calibre and skills to be considered for roles as they arise either through retirements or natural wastage.

3. How Will The Club Approach Succession Planning

Succession planning will only be effective if it is integrated into the way the Club runs and plans its business and is the responsibility of all Club members. As part of the preparation of workforce development plans, committee members will be required to consider the workforce composition for specific purposes, considering issues such as:

· Pending retirements;

· Sickness absence (long term);

· Turnover and patterns;

· Difficult to recruit posts and market shortages;

· Ongoing vacancies;

In preparing workforce development plans, consideration should be given as to where through further support, training and development, existing employees and members may be have the potential to be considered for posts and roles as they arise in the future. This approach will enable the Club through effective forward planning and risk management, to prepare for future changes in the workforce by developing existing employees and members, who show an interest in possible careers androles within swimming, to a position where they may be able to be considered for future Club and professional swimming positions.

4. How Will The Club Take Succession Planning Forward

· By adopting ASA competency frameworks which detail the competencies required for committee members, teachers, coaches, officials and volunteers. These frameworks should be readily available to all members.

· By having an ongoing annual programme of training and development activities against specific role competencies. This will provide ongoing opportunities for all members, who wish to consider development within the Club, to attend various training and development activities and events with a view to enhancing their skills and competencies, subject to Committee approval.

· Through effective application of the Clubs Continuous Professional Development Programme and the Swimmer Personal Development Plan, any career aspirations employees and members may have which are realistic and which the Club could assist with. In particular, this would need to be in line with the requirements of the Club.

· Consideration in relation to costs will however need to be a major factor, due to limited budgets within the Club.

· Where possible, development against competencies should be through ASA or UKCC accredited training courses and other opportunities such as "on the job training, mentoring and secondments.

· Through offering secondment and acting up opportunities during temporary periods for lower level staff, with the appropriate support programmes in place.

· What if opportunities do not materialise? The purpose of workforce development and succession planning is to ensure that the Club have employees and members with the required skills and competencies to be considered for posts and roles which may arise in the future and which have been highlighted.

· Where opportunities, for what ever reason do not materialise, there remain advantages with the approach being adopted, as employees and members continue to be developed to reach their full potential, which not only has an impact upon their performance but also has benefits in terms of employee and member satisfaction and morale.

5. Fairness and Transparency

In order that succession planning, does not carry any risks, it imperative that the process is seen as fair, open and transparent by all volunteers, future employees and members. Where a permanent position or role arises in the future, an employee or member who has been subject to succession planning and received development, will still be subject to the Clubs Recruitment and Selection Procedures and will still be required to demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria for the post or role.

There will still be a requirement to advertise the post, at least internally, and where the post is of a highly specialist nature, and depending upon the level, the post may need to be advertised externally also.

6. Record Keeping

Various mechanisms for record keeping are likely to be the result of succession planning including:

· Workforce development plans

· Individual employee's and swimmer "Personal Development Plans"

· Records of Achievements

· Applications for training and development activities demonstrating the relevance of the training

7. Links To Other Club Policies and Procedures

· Recruitment Policy

· Equity Policy

· Club Constitution

8. Monitoring and Review

This policy and its application will be monitored on an ongoing basis by the Committee. A review will take place every 24 months.

9. Equalities and Diversity

The application of this policy and the information collated from monitoring its application will take into account all equalities and diversity issues.