A succession plan names the roles where losing the holder would disrupt the business and prepares one or two internal successors for each. Give each successor a development plan and an expected readiness date, start with critical roles rather than every role, and review the plan at least once a year.
Step by step
- 1
Identify critical roles
Roles that are hard to fill quickly from the market, or that a department or a key client relationship depends on.
- 2
Define what success requires
The competencies and experience each critical role needs, from the job description and the competency framework.
- 3
Nominate successors
Who could fill the role from inside, based on performance and potential, not seniority alone.
- 4
Assess readiness
Classify each candidate as ready now, ready within one to two years, or needing longer development.
- 5
Individual development plans
Stretch assignments, leadership training, shadowing the current holder, and a gradual handover of documented knowledge.
- 6
Review every year
Alongside the annual appraisal, and whenever there is a resignation, an expansion or a change in the structure.
A succession plan where the candidates receive no real development stays a paper in a drawer. The development is the plan.
- succession planning template
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