Replacement Chart In HRM – What Is It & Why You Need One?

Replacement charts are a succession plan forecasting approach that helps businesses identify essential job functions, current personnel, and all of the vacant job positions. Positions are plotted alongside data like prospective substitutions, advancement possibilities, and gender. Replacement charts should be updated on a regular basis, at least once a year, and particularly in reaction to changes in budget or activities that have a direct effect on business.  

Replacement chart in HRM

A replacement chart is a succession planning tool that describes key job responsibilities in a company, as well as current and anticipated job gaps, to help businesses visualize vital job functions.

Specific capabilities are defined for each vacant post, and then individuals with the required competencies are categorized, resulting in the identification of potential replacements.

In replacement charts, roles include details such as probable replacements, age, qualifications, background, gender, and advancement prospects.

Employees are classed as follows according to replacement charts:

• Ready to take on new challenges
• Training leading to promotion
• Employees who are doing a good job but might need some pat on the back
• Employees who are physically unable to give their 100% and must be replaced

After that, the experience and skillsets of the potential applicants are compared to those required for the position. The organization will be able to establish succession planning and identify internal potential as a result of this.

You need to update these charts are regularly, especially in response to changes in the economy or business activities.

• The replacement charts provide answers to the following questions:
• What are the employee's organizational history and skills?
• Who is the most qualified individual for a job position?
• Is there any possible benefit of giving preference to one individual over another for the advertised job?

Replacement Planning vs. Succession Planning

Organizations frequently mix up succession planning and replacement planning. Replacement planning focuses on filling a certain important role's immediate needs. It is due to the reaction to necessity, and there is less emphasis on employee talent development. Succession planning looks ahead, building strong benches of successor candidates to provide a replacement.

Planning process 

Replacement hiring is mostly used when there is no other option. If a leader decides to resign, for example, the job becomes empty. Either an external applicant will be employed, or a subordinate will be hired to fill that post. Because there is no transition time between the compulsory and the replacement, this usually results in a steep learning and training curve.

On the other hand, succession planning focuses on a long-term strategy. It aims to build a pool of skills and knowledge before they are needed. If the leader decides to step down, the candidates are prepared to take over. Candidates are trained before a post becomes available. Long-term training, such as job shadowing, has become a viable option for preparing applicants for their final duties. This approach enables a company to prepare not only to replace leadership positions but also to fill managerial positions left vacant when employees move up the corporate ladder.

Decision-making process 

Organizations may not have a formal succession plan in place, but they often have a backup candidate in mind when it comes to important positions. This decision can be a result of "expectations" in most circumstances, and it may not have been made with care or consideration. Replacement hire run the risk of preserving the status quo. As a result, it may prevent the company from reaping the benefits of a comprehensive succession plan.

While organizations can use succession planning to identify potential candidates based on the role's requirements and their ability to meet those goals. So, multiple parties, including the position incumbent, their equivalents, and your senior management, will be involved in choosing the best candidates. The decision is made on the basis of evaluations in an organized manner.

Final result

Employees may find it difficult to comprehend if they are being considered for promotion or not. Furthermore, if they are expecting to be promoted, then they may not know when it will happen. So, it is one of the potential downsides of replacement planning. As a result, maintaining talented personnel who want to further their careers may be difficult. Because replacement recruiting does not organically design for individuals to enhance their abilities or expertise, it makes it more difficult to grow outstanding personnel in the first place.

Succession planning is a progressive process. It is possible that you cannot give a high-potential employee a promotion right now. Alternatively, you can offer them the chance to try new tasks. In addition, you can allow them to get experience on a variety of projects. That is not all, and you can also enhance their skills and keep them engaged. Consequently, they may stay with your organization longer. This has the added benefit of creating a more developed workforce from which to choose when a position becomes available in the future. The finest succession planning techniques help both employees and businesses.

Example of replacement planning 

There are numerous examples of replacement planning. You may have seen it in your organization, but you are unaware of how it works. Suppose the worker at Amazon decides to retire. As a result, a post will become available. The company decides to hire a junior or advertise the vacant position to select an external application to fill the role. Hiring an external employee is time-consuming, and it may take more time than you imagine. It is because you also have to train the employee. So, you can use the replacement method in this case because it can save you time and money.

Position replacement chart

There is nothing new in the position replacement chart. It also revolves around the capable individuals who can fill a given job role in the company. As you know, the employee replacement charts are digitized for easy access and updated as needed. Consequently, it aids in calculating the advantages of selecting an individual for a role. In addition, it also protects the company from income loss in the event of a sudden departure.

Replacement of important employees

The majority of businesses feel that the sole purpose of executing a succession plan is to find a replacement for the leaving CEO or a handful of top executives.

A succession plan is important for this reason. However, a more comprehensive rationale is to find suitable replacements and, in the process, to prepare to fill all significant roles inside the organization, not only the CEO and top executives. This is referred regarded as "many levels deep planning," as it involves everyone from mid-level executives to section managers and division heads.

All roles that are required to keep the business running, even if they are not evident, are included in succession planning. Executives are responsible for setting the plan, and managers are in charge of putting it into action. To flourish, a company must be strong in both areas.

It is possible for a company's managers and executives to leave the company and seek out new opportunities. So, they may seek employment with a different company. Alternatively, they can choose to retire. When an organization is expecting a manager to leave, a smooth replacement is achievable just for the reason that it gives ample time to decide what to do. 

The difficulty arises when someone retires unexpectedly. Therefore, the maintenance of continuity is critical since it results in fewer service interruptions and, as a result, lower costs. You will an increase in growth with an improvement in the economy. Growth management is an important factor when it comes to a company's growth sustainability.

Replacement charts and talent shortage

 There can be several challenges in a weak economy, but a company may confront a talent shortage by using replacement charts. For example, if a head nurse resigns from a hospital, studies show that finding a replacement can be extremely difficult. 

However, how the hospital management will react to this? What are the possible solutions that they can use to avoid a prolonged leadership vacuum? Consequently, the management may decide to promote employees before they are fully qualified for the position.

It is only possible if the company has no appropriate replacements. However, who you choose when the need occurs and how you facilitate the staff's transition must be planned ahead of time. Quick hires and haphazard placements are unlikely to go yield good results. So, it is recommended to use replacements charts to manage human resources.