SEAN McKRELL
PORAC Treasurer

The Importance of Treasurer Succession Planning

I feel it is important for me to explore a topic I’m passionate about: having an internal succession plan. This may seem like a no-brainer for some, but it is a concept I have routinely found to be lost on others. We just had our second PORAC Treasurer course this month in Ontario. (Shout-out to all of the very attentive and engaged students we had in this course!) I like to close the class with a discussion about succession planning, just to see if it is something that is on people’s minds or if they were given a smooth handoff by their predecessor. Not surprisingly, most were not, and they were left the keys to the association financials with very little clue what to do. Well, that is what the class is for, but imagine if they got a smooth handoff with some time to be mentored in the position and then took the class. I think that is a winning combination.

When I started my fourth and final year as president of my association, I knew I wanted to find someone to take over the following year. My vice president let me know he felt he wasn’t ready yet, and that was all right, as I didn’t want to pressure him into it. (He is now president and just broke the record for longest-tenured president.) So, I started looking. I was the president of a 200-member association, and I feel fairly certain I asked all of them if they were interested in replacing me. I probably skipped a couple I felt were not worthy or I knew wouldn’t do it, but it was close to all of them. I found one single person who showed a minor amount of interest, but I was very interested in him. One, I knew he could do it. Two, I felt it would be good for his career and would gain him some much-needed face time with the higher-ups in our department. However, I knew he was a young father and husband, and it would be a tough sell. There were other considerations: I knew I wanted him to keep my incumbent VP and continue to work with him, and I knew he needed a treasurer. 

Over the next few months, I fanned the flames to try to keep him interested. I had him come to meetings and started copying him on association business he could be a part of. I convinced one of his close friends to be his treasurer if he took over the presidency, and he agreed the incumbent VP was a great person to work with. Finally, he agreed to run for the president seat I was vacating. Happily, my plan had worked, and a succession plan I was proud of was born. This person held the president seat for the next four years with his vice president and treasurer by his side, making it fun and valuable for the association and his career. During that four-year period, he shot up the ranks, and he and that treasurer are now sitting alone on our lieutenant promotional list. The vice president (now ready) has held the presidency ever since that president completed his four-year stint.

This is a real-life example of a succession plan working. A motto I live by is to always try to leave something better than how I found it. I felt in this scenario I accomplished that. Now, that doesn’t always work. I’ve had many instances where I’ve identified a successor for a role I oversaw, and it didn’t work out. It’s always been for a good reason, but it still stings when it doesn’t work. One person I wanted clearly wasn’t up to the task, and another had to bow out for family and personal reasons. In both of those instances, I quickly moved on and found another successor, then worked with them. My point is, I never just did not have some sort of succession plan with anything in my life. I wouldn’t even walk away from my dynasty fantasy football team if I didn’t think I had a capable manager I could hand it off to. I have a succession plan for everything, and so should you. But you should super duper do it for an association treasurer spot. There are passwords, investment plans, context in spending, bill pay habits and financial accountability, just to name a few things that should be passed on to a successor over an extended period. Last August I started shadowing former PORAC Treasurer Nick Odenath for this position, and I think we’d both tell you I could have used more time. I ultimately took over on January 1. I’d say a few months is a minimum amount.

My point in this whole article is, even if you are brand new to your role, start thinking now about who is next and when. I plan on staying the PORAC treasurer until I am promoted to captain or retire. I could get promoted in less than a year and don’t plan to retire until after 2030. If you are interested in my job, you should approach me now. I have already had discussions, and you should know by this article I’m already thinking about it. Although you are all eligible to run against me, it is very destabilizing for PORAC to have a contested election. Let’s have the conversation now and have a plan in place. It is so much better for all involved if we work together as labor leaders to maintain stability and integrity, and provide a soft landing for our future leaders.