1. Succession Planning for the HRPP and IRB Kathy Ertell, MS, CIH 1

2. Why is Succession Planning Important? What would happen to your HRPP if you: Took an extended medical or personal leave Died suddenly Took another job Won the lottery and quit work tomorrow Accepted a buy-out retirement offer with a 60-day exit date Decided to retire Does your program have a plan? (most of us don’t) Do you have a backup person? Does anyone else even know what your job involves? 2

3. A Few Details on Succession Planning Succession planning Continuity for key positions Identifying and preparing replacements Temporary or emergency succession planning What to do in the short-term Leaves of absence, pending new hires, etc. Long-term succession planning Planning ahead for promotion or retirement Transferring corporate knowledge Primarily for senior executives, but encouraged for all levels of management and professional staff. 3

4. Succession Planning for the IRB Administrator Do you have a detailed job description? Can you: recruit a suitable candidate from the outside? identify people in your organization who would be a good fit? train internally? make time for a transition? find a short-term substitute if needed? There is no professional education program to pull from, so unless you find an experienced candidate, you will have to train someone. 4

5. Succession Planning for the IRB Chair How long is the Chair’s term? If you have a term limit of 2-3 years, you always need to have a candidate waiting in the wings. How easy is it to recruit a Chair in your organization? Are there financial or time pressures? Can you have a formal succession program? Chair-in-Training Succession to Chair from Vice-Chair Provision for emergency or interim Chair What’s the learning curve? A Chair new to your IRB may need more time. Can the current Chair recommend a replacement? 5

6. Succession Planning for the IRB Member Consider: age of the membership how likely are members to move how long a term is reasonable when to start recruiting how many members you have already the need to maintain a quorum how easy it is to recruit in your organization or community It may be easier to replace certain skill sets than others. 6

7. General Steps for Succession Planning Define the skills and attributes needed for each position. Identify the talent pool and any possible successors. If you can easily recruit experienced people from outside the company, you may not need a long-term succession plan, but you may still need a short-term plan. You might know just the right person already, especially if you have the luxury of training in-house. Train people to develop the needed knowledge, skills, abilities. Mentor the preferred candidates – job shadowing, shared assignments, part-time work. Promote or hire when the time comes. 7

8. Tips for Succession Planning – Task Issues Have a procedure or desk manual. Define the tasks needed to keep the program running. Keep good records and files. Organize your electronic documents. Share your network Who to call for consultation on various issues: finance, contracts, legal, medical, research, corporate, human resources, etc. The unwritten rules Who else knows them, and can tell your successor? Talk to your Human Resources Department Do they have succession planning guidelines or other programs to help you? 8

9. Tips for Succession Planning – People Issues For the short-term: Do you have secretarial support who can help keep things running in your absence? Can you train a back-up administrator now? Can your IRB members help in the short-term? Can your Human Resources Department arrange short-term assignments or appointments? Finding long-term replacements: Look in your community – what other institutions have research, IRBs ? Spread the word in your network. Advertise in the right places. 9

10. Succession Planning at PNNL Vice-Chair fills in for Chair when needed, but does not currently ascend to Chair on a permanent basis. Chair-in-Training appointed when Chair’s tenure ~1 year. IRB Administrative Team: Chair, Vice-Chair, Chair-in- Training, and Administrator...spreading knowledge. Secretary knows tasks to keep the HRPP running. Try to predict IRB members/staff who will likely be leaving, and identify candidates in advance. Keep a running list of people who have expressed interest in serving on IRB or learning about HRPP. Conduct cross-training on administrative tasks. Future plans….. 10