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Welcome to BK Talks Business, the podcast where we dive into the world of entrepreneurship with practical insights and actionable tips. I'm BK, your host, a project and operations management professional, and I am thrilled to have you join me. Over the next 30 days, we'll be delving into 30 systems in 30 days. Each episode of this series is designed to be short, sweet and power-packed with valuable information geared at helping you get your business to run like a well-oiled machine, and at the end of 30 days, you will have a pretty good list of the systems in your business that, if optimized, can take you to the next level by being more efficient. Let's get started. Hello and welcome back to the podcast.

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Today, I'll be sharing two systems to add to your list. We're looking into one of the most essential systems for business sustainability, and that is succession planning. It is so incredibly important because it ensures continuity and stability within your organization, even during times of leadership transition. It can also help you identify and develop future leaders and strengthen your talent pipeline. We'll also be talking about your sustainability and green practices and policies for your business. How can you create a system that prioritizes eco-friendly strategies, which can not only benefit the planet but also your bottom line. Let's explore how you can implement these systems effectively. Let's kick things off with our first system for today, which is succession planning. Now, the biggest tip I can give here is to start this planning early.

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Succession planning isn't just about preparing for the unexpected, from absences to departures. It's about building a pipeline of talent and leadership potential within your business, knowing and identifying who outside your business can help you if crisis time hits. So identify and develop future leaders as early as possible to make sure that that transition is as seamless as possible when the time comes. One key practice is to assess your current leadership team, identify who potential successors could be for which key roles. Look for individuals who demonstrate strong leadership qualities, who have strategic thinking or evidence that they can be strategic thinkers strategic thinking or evidence that they can be strategic thinkers and those that have a deep understanding of your company's values and culture. Once you have these people, identify these potential successes, then invest in their development and their growth. Provide them with opportunities for mentorship, for training, stretch assignments to help them gain the skills and experience that they are going to need if they have to suddenly step into leadership, so that they can do so with confidence. This investment will not only benefit the individual, but it'll also strengthen your organization and your business as a whole.

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On top of this, you want to create a formal succession plan, outline the process for transitioning leadership roles. This plan could include clear criteria for evaluating potential successes, as well as timelines or milestones for grooming and preparing them for leadership positions. Regularly review and update this succession plan as and when you need to, so that it remains relevant and that it aligns with your business goals. There are times when implementing this plan will happen suddenly, and so you need this system in place so that, when that time comes, there's no fumbling around trying to figure out what to do next. The system is already in place and it's just to implement. So, obviously, what is going to happen as you are implementing a succession plan or this process, as you are starting the process? This is going to foster this culture of talent development and growth within your business. It'll encourage your employees to pursue continuous learning and development opportunities, and you want to provide that support and the resources to help them succeed.

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The next thing is to involve key stakeholders in the succession planning process, whether it is current leaders, hr professionals, potential successes themselves, collaborating to identify talent gaps, assessing development needs and creating this personalized development plans for future leaders. This might mean you could look outside your organization, outside of your business, to look at other businesses and other people outside your organization that can support the team if need be or when that time comes. Need be or when that time comes. So once your succession plan is in place, you'll want to communicate it to all your team members, all your stakeholders. If anything happens to you, god forbid, make sure that your team knows the protocols for what to do next. So transparency is the key to building trust and to get buy-in from the entire team. Make sure that everyone understands the importance of the succession planning and what their role is in supporting the process. And lastly, you want to regularly review. And lastly, you want to regularly review, regularly go back your potential successes, the stakeholders, and then make the necessary adjustments to your plans and your process along the way. All right, so that's it for succession planning.

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Moving ahead to our next system, which is sustainability and green practices. This is more about how you can build into your operations sustainable practices and to contribute positively to the environment. So we are looking to think about how we can adopt green practices which can lead to cost saving through reduced waste and improved energy efficiency. It'll also enhance our brand image and attract environmentally conscious customers and partners to our business and our brand. So let's talk about a practical tip and some best practices here. So you want to start by conducting an energy audit to identify where you can reduce consumption. A simple thing like switching to energy efficient lighting and appliances can make a huge difference.

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Prioritizing waste reduction by reusing and recycling material whenever possible can go a long way in just making your business more sustainable. Think about your supply chain. How can you reduce waste along your supply chain? How can you recycle? What can you reuse so that it not only saves you money but it prevents waste from going into landfills and things like that? Of course, this is really dependent on what your business is, but I think every business can make small changes that can really make a difference in the sustainability of their business.

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So there are some key steps to implementing sustainable practices within your business. You first want to identify where you're at. So what are your current practices? Where can you improve? What are your goals? Your sustainability goals? Are they aligned to your business values? What do you want to stand for in terms of it being environmentally friendly or having green practices, and then engage and educate your team about the importance of having a sustainable business and involve them in the process.

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And, like I said, you can start with small changes like reducing paper usage or switching your current packaging to a more environmentally friendly option, or even looking into encouraging more days of remote work instead of having the team drive into the office, for example. And then you want to continuously monitor your progress and adjust your strategies. It doesn't have to be very big things that you do, but things that are kind of weaved in your operations. Just being mindful of how your business contributes to the environment, whether positively or negatively, will help you know what to look for in your current processes and what to change or tweak or improve or get rid of altogether or implement something new and intentional in order to be more sustainable and to have a more eco-friendly business.

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That's it for systems 27 and 28. Remember 27 was your succession system and 28 was your sustainability systems, or how you can infuse green practices into your operations. So thank you for tuning in today. I will talk to you real soon. We're very, very near the end. Just two more systems and then we are done with 30 systems that we can work on in our business. I look forward to talking to you again soon. Bye for now.