RLI

RLI, a mid-to-large size property, casualty and surety bond insurance company needed a formal succession-planning process for not only their executive team, but also for their potential mid-management successors.  Working with the executive team, we developed evaluation documents, administered leadership assessments, and designed the annual succession-planning process.  As a result, the board is at ease with the plan, human resources has a process for succession-planning, and leaders possess clear developmental plans for growing within the organization.

On-going planning meetings were conducted with the executive team to:

• Identify overall executive leadership and job-specific competencies,
• Select objective assessment instruments for measuring leadership competencies,
• Develop documents for evaluating competency proficiency-level,
• Develop a developmental planning document, and
• Define the annual succession-planning process.

First we worked with RLI’s HR and executives to make sure each executive had a contingency plan in place should something unexpected happen to them. Next, we worked with each executive to identify their prospective successors.

The succession-planning process began with an orientation presentation to all executives and identified prospective successors.

Assessments were administered to the prospective successors and delivered to the appropriate executive leader to use in his/her evaluation and developmental planning of their prospective successors.

The executives then met with their prospective successors to discuss assessment and evaluation results and to finalize a 1-5 year development plan.

RLI’s board was very pleased and are at ease knowing a plan is in place for the executive team.  Human resources is pleased to have this very important program in place. And successors now are empowered to develop in the direction they wish to go within the company.