Evidence Based Succession Planning

What kinds of organizations need a documented succession plan? Examples of significant failures as a result of not having a succession plan abound across industries, non-profits, educational institutions, government agencies, and family businesses. And the size of the organization confers no protection when there is no plan to quickly fill a key position: small businesses often flounder financially, while large businesses can give rise to infighting and jockeying for control.

The Performance Excellence Network — in partnership with the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence and the Iowa Quality Center and in collaboration with the Greater Rochester Quality Council — is pleased to host an online webinar discussion on Thursday, March 5: “Evidence-Based Succession Planning.”  The discussion will feature Dr. Ken Cohen and Kay Kendall.

Given the facts, why do so many organizations operate without a succession plan? A common reason is, quite simply, the leaders don’t know how to do it. Another is they don’t want to contemplate the inevitable – the departure of a key individual, whether due to the proverbial hit by a bus or winning the lottery. Procrastination is often the choice for not choosing!

But what if there was a statistically proven process for succession planning success? This webinar will describe the compelling reasons for investing in effective succession planning and how to identify candidates with the attributes of proven leaders.

About the speakers

Kenneth R. Cohen, PhD is Founder/CEO of The Synergy Organization, the country’s first Evidence-Based Executive Assessments and Executive Search® firm he established in 1989.  Dr. Cohen integrates his experiences as an Organizational Psychologist with validated psychological testing, Baldrige Performance Excellence Program standards, and Leadership Best Practices research findings.  He also created the proprietary Synergy Screening System® to help progressive organizations make consistently accurate and effective decisions in their Selection, Development, Retention and Succession Planning.

Dr. Cohen is honored to serve as the Founding Sponsor of the prestigious Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award in close collaboration with the Baldrige Foundation.   He also served as a Board Member for the regional Mid-Atlantic Alliance for Performance Excellence (MAAPE). Over the last 36 years, he has published and presented extensively to national, state and regional organizations including the ACHE, AHA, ASHHRA, and SHRM.  He has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level, published over 30 professional journals, publications, and book chapters, been interviewed by “The Wall Street Journal”, and in 2025, will be publishing his book about his firm’s innovative research and predictive analytics research with Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Recipient CEOs and Presidents.

Dr. Cohen earned his Masters and PhD as a Psychologist at Temple University.  He graduated from Dickinson College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.  Reach him at Ken@SynergyOrg.com or visit www.SynergyOrg.com.

Kay Kendall has more than 20 years as a quality executive leading large-scale change initiatives across diverse industries. As CEO of BaldrigeCoach, she currently works with organizations on their journey toward Performance Excellence. Kay served on the Panel of Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program for 3 years. She continues as a Master Examiner. She was a Master Examiner and team leader for the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. She was also a Judge for the VA’s Carey Award and a Judge for PiPEx, the Baldrige-based program serving Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

JOIN US FOR THIS FREE PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE NETWORK (PEN) WEBINAR

Date: Thursday, March 5

Time:  9:00 - 10:00 am (EST)

Location:  On-line, via Zoom

Cost:  Free to GRQC members and non-members

Registration:  Click below to register.  Note:  Registration may not work with Internet Explorer; please use a currently supported browser.

Can’t make it live but interested in the content? Register anyway: all registered attendees get a link to the recording after the session!

Please send questions to events@grqc.org.