Acceleration pools:

A longer term and more effective approach to maximum development is the 'acceleration pool system'. This is a process by which an organisation assures that its key positions will be filled with qualified candidates. It succeeds by establishing a pool of individuals who have been selected for their basic skills and then developed through training and job experiences to maximise their potential contributions to the organisation at large - and not to a specific position.

This is a startling change from when corporations deluded themselves into thinking they could predict an individual's career path. The dismal record from that era warns against repeating it. The acceleration pool system differs from traditional succession planning in many ways, including:

The system rests on the premise that while everyone is developed, only the company's best and brightest qualify for accelerated development. In the acceleration pool, they receive stretch assignments, special developmental experiences, and accelerated growth and educational opportunities. They also go through an updated and redesigned assessment centre, staffed with outside professionals, and receive expert feedback and coaching.

• Acceleration pool candidates are prepared for assignments with measurement systems, coaching, and clear job and learning accountabilities. Traditional replacement planning assignments, by comparison, only delivered unplanned learning, had little structure, and the coaching they offered came mainly from the HR department. Taskforce and other special assignments are fully leveraged to speed learning in an acceleration pool.
• Movement in the acceleration pool is based on performance and achieved development. Candidates must make effective use of each development assignment and achieve stretch performance goals. They cannot just serve time. Job assignment decisions are made only relative to the next opportunity – they are not planned two or three positions out.
• The acceleration pool offers no presumption of upward movement or implicit guarantee of promotion – as was typically the case with succession planning and traditional talent pools.
• At regular intervals (every six or 12 months) individuals in the pool are reviewed relative to their career development needs at that moment, personal interests, and the company's management needs. One such review, for example, might conclude that a lateral move would be in everyone's best interests. Ongoing evaluation ensures that individuals will be stretched to the extent of their capabilities – all without the paperwork nightmares that once brought companies to their knees.
• Individuals can be in an acceleration pool for between one and 15 years, depending on when they enter, their performance, and the urgency of the organisation's needs; also the door is also opened for late bloomers. A sophisticated performance – and competency-based selection system assists with decisions about entry and departure. By comparison, traditional talent pools for management trainees accepted members only at the bottom and dismissed them once they joined the ranks of middle management.

Organisations that persist in maintaining the status quo court more than short-lived difficulties. They stand a good chance of seeing their organisations trampled and being forced to accept a final option – going out of business.

Byham, W.C., Smith, A. and Pease, M., Grow Your Own Leaders, DDI Press, Bridgeville, PA, 2000.