Effects of bottom-up visioning versus adopting a vision on employee buy-in: Analysis of the BC ministry of forests and range succession planning project

Succession planning is fast becoming an urgent issue facing today's organizations. Looming mass retirements due to the baby boomer generation means that organizations can expect to lose knowledgeable and experienced workers, and finding replacements will be difficult as mass retirements force a labour shortage. Consequently, many organizations are creating succession plans. In an investigation of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range Succession Plan, internal documents and previous government surveys were analyzed, and stakeholder interviews were conducted to assess the Ministry's readiness to adapt and implement this project. This investigation concludes that the Ministry's plans are thorough, yet many opportunities for improvement exist. In addition, analysis of the visioning process relating to employee buy-in showed that different visioning processes seemed to lead to different degrees of employee alignment with change objectives. Opportunities for improving visioning were derived and recommended to the Ministry of Forests and Range.