Workforce & Organization
Talent & Succession Planning
Talent and succession planning prepares your organization for critical vacancies by identifying future role requirements, potential successors and development needs.
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Preparing for critical roles and future vacancies
When a key person leaves or moves into a different role, the organization needs a plan for continuity. We help you identify which roles need that preparation, assess readiness using agreed criteria and plan the development or recruiting work required.
What the succession plan can include
- An agreed list of critical roles and selection criteria
- Succession slates with documented readiness and risk
- Development priorities for named roles or talent groups
- A review calendar, owners and update process
- A record of roles that require an external recruiting plan
Decisions in the talent review
- Which roles are critical enough to require a succession plan
- What experience and capability each critical role requires
- Who may be ready now, ready later or not yet assessed
- Which development, mobility or recruiting actions should begin now
Developing your talent and succession plan
- Critical-role identification
- Talent reviews and bench-strength assessment
- Succession slates and readiness definitions
- Leadership-pipeline and development priorities
- Career-path and internal-mobility design
When continuity needs attention
- A critical role depends on one person and no ready successor is known.
- Leadership reviews discuss performance but not readiness for a different role.
- Possible successors are named without a development plan or review date.
- The company needs to decide which capabilities to develop internally and which to recruit.
Planning the review with your team
A project can begin with one leadership level or a defined group of critical roles. We establish the participants, information and readiness criteria for the review, along with how sensitive information will be handled. The plan includes responsibilities and a process for revisiting readiness as business needs and individual experience change.
Scope and related support
- A succession plan does not guarantee promotion or continued employment for any individual.
- The plan can identify roles for an external search and the capabilities to recruit. Finding candidates and managing recruitment are separate from succession planning.
- Use Leadership Coaching when an individual leader needs structured development support; use Workforce Planning when the issue covers broader future skill or headcount demand.
Questions about Talent & Succession Planning
Which roles need a succession plan?
A role may need a plan because a vacancy would disrupt operations, the skills are difficult to recruit, it holds important relationships or it prepares people for other critical positions. We help you establish criteria so the level of planning reflects the significance of each role.
How is successor readiness assessed?
Readiness is assessed against the responsibilities, experience and capabilities required for the future role. The review considers the evidence available and identifies where further assessment or development is needed. Performance in a current role is useful information, but readiness for a different role requires its own criteria.
How is succession planning different from replacement planning?
Replacement planning identifies who can provide emergency coverage. Succession planning also considers future role requirements, longer-term readiness and development, along with how the plan will be reviewed and updated.
Does being named in a succession plan guarantee a promotion?
No. A succession plan records potential readiness and development priorities. It does not guarantee promotion or continued employment. Your organization retains responsibility for appointment and employment decisions.
Can the plan identify roles that need an external search?
Yes. The review can identify roles where internal readiness is limited and define the capabilities to recruit. Candidate sourcing and search execution are separate from this planning service.
How do we keep the plan current?
The project can establish a review calendar, assigned responsibilities and an update process. Reviews consider changes in the business, role requirements, individual experience and development progress, so the plan remains useful over time.