FACTORS AFFECTING EFFECTIVE SUCCESSION PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE COMMISSION

Succession planning perceives employees as not external resources to the organization and therefore provides a definite plan and process that addresses the issues of the changes that can take place when employees leave at some particular time. Success planning should therefore be done for all position as opposed to the normal focus on the senior managers, executive directors and other key positions in the organization. For the succession planning to be effective especially in public sector, there should be the mechanism to attract talented individual in the organization and ensure favorable conditions that enhance their stay and viability. It is important for senior managers to consider coordinating the recruitment of competent individuals in the public sector especially those with required skills and with strong people management skills. In the evaluation of a certain succession, it is necessary that one should differentiate between the quality of the experience and the effectiveness of the succession. Quality in succession planning reflects on how the members of the family experience the process in person where such issues as rivalry, conflict, resentment etc. are prevalent. On effectiveness, it is how other people judge the results of succession. It is therefore evident that some degree of conflict and rivalry are a major contributing factor to effective succession outcomes. The reasons prompting the study are to ensure the public sector unveils the ways in which talents are advanced in the public sector to attract more people to work there. Also the study explores the challenges being faced by the Parliamentary Service Commission in managing succession planning that has led to low morale and talents for tangible areas of improvement. The objectives of the study are; communication, staff training, leadership style, organizational culture and organizational structure which forms the research questions. The study targets 174 employees at Parliamentary Service Commission offices along Parliament Road in Nairobi and it adopts a descriptive research design for quantitative method of study where a questionnaire is used to collect information from respondents and use statistical package for social sciences to analyze and present data through charts, graphs and tables to answer the research questions through conclusions and recommendations