If you are thinking about developing staff, you have a wide range of choices. The wise manager also builds organisational resilience whilst developing staff – skilling up for the future as well as for the present.

When someone leaves the workforce abruptly, even if only for a season, it can put a strain on an organisation. If someone is suddenly taken ill for instance, it can throw the normal running of a department, team or project into confusion.

But should it?

In December 2010 I was told that my job was being made redundant and that I was leaving on the 31^st March 2011. But on the 20^th March, I read an email asking if anyone was available to manage the Registration Service. The existing manager was going to be away for the next three months.

Yes, I was available.

The Assistant Director already knew me and what I was capable of. So she put me in place, even though I knew nothing about the team or what they did. In fact, I ended up managing the service for six months, developing me and my team. You can read here what she and others have said about me.

And after that I managed a series of one-off projects for the following year. I then set up my own business, having benefitted greatly from the experience.

What’s the key learning here?

• It is helpful if you know who is available, capable and willing to take on new things at the drop of a hat. It saves a lot of time

  

• This experience is invaluable to the individual in terms of skills enhancement, confidence building and broadening perspectives and experience.
• Having someone “Oven-ready” answers a very pressing need that couldn’t have been planned for.

We are familiar with succession planning for possible emerging scenarios. But what about planning for unseen scenarios. Managers need to know who in their team could be loaned out – who can we give the space to roam? This in turn generates space for others to step up. Instead of everyone panicking because Chris has been taken ill, it could be seen as an opportunity to grow skills, try out staff in more senior positions and get some new perspectives on how we currently operate.

And for Chris, having a manager who says, “Don’t worry; we’ve got this.” might be just the medicine that they need.