SUCCESSION PLANNING AND ITS EXTENT AT CALCUTTA ELECTRIC SUPPLY CORPORATION (CESC) FOR MID-LEVEL MANAGERS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Succession planning (SP), to the extent that it is done at all, has primarily been confined to senior-executive-level positions. The present situation of talent shortage requires expanding succession planning to other critical positions that have the biggest impact on organizational performance and must be implemented much more deeply reaching every skilled position in the organization. Despite the obvious need for succession planningat all levels, very few companies practice this for their mid-level managers.. In this article, authors through literature review have identified major components of succession planning, which include processes and change management, selection of successor and development of successor. An attempt has been made to examine the practices of succession planning adopted by Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) on how they identify, develop and retain their potential mid-level-executives enabling it to address its human capital challenges. The basis for selecting CESC for the study is backed up by the fact that CESC was awarded the Gold Medal in the national workshop on “National Award for Best HR Practices” organized by National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM), in August 2013. Thereafter an attempt has been made to critically examine the SP practices at CESC against the identified components.