It's usually not the managers.

Even though they often appear in the company's succession plans.
McKinsey's 9-box model has played a part in this, even if it wasn't meant to.

Originally developed as a framework for portfolio management, it was later adapted for talent management to assess employees based on their performance and potential.
However, this assessment is subjective. Sympathy and political factors often play a role.
Moreover, people find it difficult to take the organization's perspective.

The result is often a document that fails to reflect the company's actual reality and requirements.

Yet the role of Talent Management is clear:
👉 In the interplay between strategy, organization and HR, it makes a significant contribution to securing the company's business capability.
It is therefore a business-critical function.

So who are the key people in key positions?

The answer depends on several factors:
- What is the core business of the company?
- What business-critical skills are required?
- Who possesses these skills?
- Are they available in sufficient numbers?
- What are the strategic priorities for the coming period?

To remove emotion from discussions and focus on organizational requirements, I apply a data-based approach.

This evaluates various criteria, such as:
- Impact on revenue
- Risk in the event of employee departure
- Influence on other functions (dependencies)
- Critical mass
- Contribution to the achievement of strategic goals

This makes the connection between strategy, organization, and HR visible.

This approach is an integral part of strategic workforce planning.
It supports companies:
- identify business-critical functions,
- determine key position holders, and
- build necessary redundancies to minimize risks.

💡 It also helps reduce costs and increase organizational resilience.

💭 How are key position holders identified in your company?