Business goals are important in any organization as they define the strategic direction for the organization; Succession Planning must be aligned to the business goals, if organizational effectiveness to attain those strategic goals is to be assured. In Kenya, a key notable challenge to effective implementation of succession management in state enterprises is the alignment of business goals with succession planning processes. In addition, formulation of business goals that helps in identification of talent and commitment of the resources for supporting execution of succession planning remains as a key problem. Despite the critical role played by business goals in enhancing implementation of effective succession management in state enterprises, there lacks a comprehensive study that has adequately articulated the role played by business goals in supporting implementation of effective succession management in Kenya state enterprises. This study aimed to establish the influence of business goals on effective implementation of succession management in state enterprises in Kenya. The study adopted a census design to reach the Human Resource Managers in the 162 state enterprises. The study used semi-structured questionnaires as the main data collection instrument and a pilot study was carried out to pretest the questionnaires for validity and reliability. The gathered data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics data analysis methods using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). Pearson’s Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis were used to support the deductions in the study. Findings from the study showed that business goals significantly influence effective implementation of succession management in state enterprises in Kenya. Business goals and objectives are part of the state enterprises strategic planning and implementation processes that describe what an organization expects to accomplish over time. The nature of organization goals greatly determines how the organization undertakes succession management and poor alignment of business goals with succession management strategy hinders effectiveness of many state enterprises. Effective implementation of succession planning requires identification of organization business goals and alignment of the goals with the deployed succession management strategy. The study recommended that, senior management staff and human resource managers in state enterprises should clearly understand the organization business strategy, align the HR strategy with the broader organizational strategic goals, offer better employees rewards in order to increase the level of employees commitment and retention, improve on employees relations and accurately project on the future manpower needs of the enterprise.
Keywords: Business Goals, Succession Management
