A Strange Day

In today\’s competitive work environment where employees in the organization are more concerned about career advancement, there is a need for organizations to develop succession planning. This can be of assistance in motivating employees to visualize and align their personal aspirations with the demands of the organization they serve.
The purpose of the study is to recommend implementation of succession planning to the Office of Accountant General (OAG) in Botswana which to this end does not have any succession planning for its leadership. This was confirmed in a statement made in August 2016, by the Accountant General (AG), Head of the OAG, who visited the officers around the country to get feedback on staff concerns. Employees complained and expressed distress about the length of time it normally takes for the department to fill vacant posts especially for middle management. Moreover, they indicated that the promotion to executive positions is disadvantaging as it only focuses on the seniority of employees rather than performance and experience (Annexure 1 attached). The AG confirmed that the organization does not have succession planning in place and aims to implement one.
Therefore, the main objective is to help facilitate implementation of succession planning within the OAG by interacting with the management of the OAG and identifying the current system, culture, process and recommending implementation of sustainable succession planning.
1.2 Situation
The OAG does not have succession planning system in place, the situation which is alleged to be causing employee grievances as per Annexure 1 (attached) resulting in:
• A slow process of filling vacant positions
• Failure to fill positions key management positions internally
• Fewer people to fill vacant positions
• Low employee morale
• Staff turnover
This research, shall therefore, provide a practical guide to succession planning and to recommend to the OAG to implement succession planning as an effective and sustainable tool to develop future managers and leaders within the organization.
1.3 Objectives of the consultancy
 The main objective of the study is to evaluate the OAG management promotion system and recommend the implementation of succession planning.

 To undertake a comprehensive review of the current culture of leadership development and recruitment within the OAG and make recommendations to management
In accordance with these objectives, the key variables to be considered shall be as follows:
• knowledge on succession planning
• Current promotion system
• The current Leadership development
• Recruitment within ,the OAG
• Key positions in the department
• The role of HR
1.5 Scope of the assignment
The frame of reference of this research report is limited to the Office of Accountant General (OAG) in Botswana, OAG is a Public Department under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MFED). It is the largest of the four departments within the MFED and has about 1200 employees. The department is responsible for the provision of efficient Financial Information, Accounting and Procurement Services as well as ensuring compliance by all government departments (Government of Botswana, 2011). The OAG is, therefore, the biggest department and employs professional employees mainly in the field of Accounting due to the nature of its services. The senior organizational structure of the OAG consists of a Head of the