What is succession planning?
Succession plans are strategies for identifying and developing top performers within your company capable of taking on future leadership roles. Though sometimes they are used to fill a specific position before an impending retirement or promotion, it’s wise to have them in place even before an event occurs.
Related: 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Training and Development Program
Why you need to have a succession plan
Succession plans allow companies to address and prepare for the inevitable changes that occur when someone:
- Passes away
- Becomes ill
- Gets fired
- Retires
- Resigns
Aside from preparing for potential organizational changes, succession plans often lead to better employee retention. This is because top-performing employees feel valued and invested in when a succession plan is in place. Additionally, companies experience fewer disruptions to productivity when they have a plan of succession in place.
How to create a succession plan
Here are the steps you need to take to develop an effective plan of succession:
1. Start planning immediately
Even if there is little reason to expect an impending change in leadership, it’s always a good idea to have a plan in place. To ensure that your company is successful in the long-term, it’s wise to begin succession planning as soon as your business is becoming sustainable. Ideally, you need to begin planning within the first five years of starting your business.
2. Look further than obvious candidates
It’s important to look for ideal candidates based on their skills and characteristics rather than their current job title. You can sometimes find promising employees outside of the obvious options that already hold leadership positions.
3. Communicate the vision and goals
Aside from collaborating with your board of directors and human resources department, begin strategy conversations with potential successors. By purposefully communicating the organization’s vision and objectives, you are developing their leadership and planning skills and ensuring that they are successful in their future role.
4. Develop a strategy for hiring based on your plan
After you have identified employees within the organization that are qualified to fill important roles, evaluate the talent gaps that have to be addressed. This allows you to create a comprehensive hiring strategy by identifying the kind of talent that you need to recruit.
5. Provide regular feedback to prospective successors
Develop the skills of your potential successors by consistently communicating with them about their strengths and areas of improvement. If they do especially well during a presentation, make note of it and let them know that their hard work has been recognized. This allows them to understand how success is measured and repeat the behavior in the future.
It’s a good idea to start a file where you can track the accomplishments of top performers. By making a note of their achievements, you have something to reference when a leadership position becomes available. This information is also helpful when it’s time to conduct performance reviews.
6. Offer training opportunities to top performers
Once you have identified potential successors, dedicate resources to develop their skills by offering:
- Training
- Job shadowing
- Mentorship
Remember to vary the types of training that you offer. Though technical knowledge is important, a successful leader also needs to possess strong verbal and written communication skills, interpersonal skills, diplomacy and tact.
7. Conduct a trial run
Gauge how prepared an employee is for a leadership role by giving them an opportunity to take on more responsibility. One way to do this is to allow them to take on an acting managerial role while someone is away on vacation because it gives them a chance to gain more experience and you the opportunity to evaluate their leadership abilities.
Related: Best Practices for Managing Change in the Workplace
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions regarding succession planning:
