Clarence Leong of EasyParcel and Ko Chuan Zhen of Plus Xnergy share their thoughts on succession planning
Succession planning isn't at the top of every leader's mind, and research has shown that many organisations are ill-prepared to replace their leaders when the time calls for it. According to a Stanford University survey, only some 54 percent of boards were grooming a successor, while 39 percent had no internal candidates who could immediately replace the CEO.
Finding an appropriate replacement for a C-suite or senior leadership position when the current holder of the position resigns or retires can be challenging, as it requires careful planning and patience. Failing to identify and put in place a suitable candidate can be costly and disruptive to business. A study of the world's largest public companies highlighted that companies which scramble to find replacements for departing CEOs could forgo US$1.8 billion in shareholder value.
So what does succession planning look like for companies that are still led by their founders or co-founders? We reached out to Ko Chuan Zhen, co-founder and group CEO of clean energy solutions provider Plus Xnergy, and Clarence Leong, co-founder and CEO of integrated logistics platform EasyParcel, to find out.
Read more: Aqumon's Kelvin Lei On Building The Next Fintech Unicorn
As a co-founder of your company, how much have you thought about succession planning?
Ko Chuan Zhen (KCZ): Succession planning has been on our minds since the early days [of our company]. We look at the leadership structure that would support the business role, and who and what we want the next generation of leaders to look like. As Plus Xnergy grew, we built subsidiaries and that's when we looked to our leaders to take on senior leadership positions at these subsidiaries.
Clarence Leong (CL): We have thought about it since day one, and it requires having a flexible organisational structure. A lot of the decisions we make comes from the team level, where they brainstorm and propose ideas, instead of from the top down. As a founder, my role is to provide the team with support while asking them the hard questions to ensure that they have considered everything. Giving my team the flexibility and accountability to carry out what they think is right has helped us retain many of our core team members. I'm currently in my third venture and the team that has been with me in the early days has been with me for nine years.
