Succession planning often feels important, but execution is lacking. Creating an effective succession plan requires a proactive approach, a belief in training and time devoted to creating a leadership pipeline. A strong succession plan allows you to fill vacancies quicker without significant disruption to the organization.

While having a succession plan for all positions is a great end goal, creating a leadership succession plan is critical.

Drawing inspiration from Jim Collins' insights in Built to Last, visionary companies excel in developing, promoting, and carefully selecting managerial talent grown from within. Collins writes, “Visionary companies develop, promote, and carefully select managerial talent grown from inside the company to a greater degree than the comparison companies.” (p. 173). In Good to Great, Collins advocates to get “the right people on the bus” first. Gino Wickman, founder of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) defines a right person as someone who shares your core values.

Finding these people can be difficult, so you run a bigger risk when you hire leaders externally, rather than develop them internally. Additionally, promoting internally can be more cost and time efficient than spending time on the hiring, onboarding, and training process (and then potentially realizing someone isn’t a fit for your culture).

Often, younger or smaller organizations do not consider succession planning as feasible, however, the ability to grow and scale effectively relies on such proactive planning.

Risks of Not Succession Planning

Failing to implement a succession plan exposes organizations to various risks.

Lack of Stability

The absence of stability arises when key individuals leave, taking critical knowledge with them. Organizations can mistakenly believe they have loyalty, and that person will not quit, however, sickness and leaves of absence can happen regardless of such loyalty. Key people hold critical historical information and organizational knowledge. When they are the only holder of this information, it creates incredible risk to the organization.

The risk intensifies when individuals hoard information. Years ago, I heard the phrase: “When you are irreplaceable, you are unpromotable.” Some people hold all their information close so that they are seen as critical, and “can not be fired.” Allowing this to happen opens you up to being held hostage and huge risk.

Increased Time to Adapt

Hiring externally takes time and money which can stretch an organization’s resources. During the transition time, other people need to step into the role, taking on additional work. If this continues too long, it can be demotivating for remaining employees.

When you feel this stress or pressure to fill the position, it can cause you to make a bad hire (who will either leave, you will need to fire, or who will cause damage to the organization).

Employee Disengagement

Growth opportunities and a career plan are crucial to keep employees engaged. If they do not see the next step, they may start looking elsewhere for a job which offers these growth opportunities.

Without a strong plan, organizations sometimes promote people into leadership positions without the necessary skills and experience, which sets them up to fail. The scene often looks like this:

Bob is really great at his job, so we promote Bob to lead the team, however, the skills that made him a fabulous individual contributor won’t make him successful as a manager. Bob struggles in his new role, and his team experiences frustration (and some decide to leave). It’s a lose-lose-lose (for Bob, his team and the organization).

Benefits of Succession Planning

Conversely, a well-executed succession plan has multiple benefits.

Create Long Term Stability

When you create a succession plan, you identify potential people to step into a role which allows you to transfer knowledge and give them experience. When a manager goes on a vacation, someone can cover their duties.

Talent Development and Retention

People who see a future, and who have a clearly defined career path, will stay longer at an organization. Replacing employees is expensive in terms of money, time and morale. When you have excellent employees, you want to retain them.

Organizations who demonstrate that they have career growth opportunities to potential candidates are more appealing.

Risk Mitigation

Whenever someone leaves and organization, there is risk. The lack of transition increases that risk.

Having someone identified who can step into that role, with the relevant information, skills and experience mitigates huge risk for the organization.

Quicker (and Easier) Transition

Having potential replacements identified streamlines the transition when that person has been given the training and support to more easily step into the new position. This quicker and easier transition helps the organization internally and externally.

How do you do it?

Implementing succession planning need not be overwhelming.

Identify Key Positions

Look through your organization chart and identify key positions. Ensure that you include where you want to create new positions in the next 6-12 months (for example, if you are looking to add a manager, but that position doesn’t exist today) and where you may move a current manager into a different position.

Identify Potential People

For each key position, identify potential internal candidates who could grow into that position (ideally, you may have 2-3 people identified for each position).

Create Career Path Plans

During your regular meetings with employees, work with them to identify their career path and if they might fill one of the identified roles, add their name to your succession plan.

A succession plan could be as simple as your organizational chart (with projected new positions) and then potential people beside various positions on the chart.

Identify Key Skill Requirements

If you have position descriptions, then you can pull these skill requirements from there (if you don’t have position descriptions, then start by creating them).

Identify & Fill Gaps

As part of creating a growth plan for each employee, look at the potential position description and identify skills, knowledge and experience gaps, and then design a plan to fill those gaps.

Some possibilities include:

Leadership Development Programs
Mentorship Programs
Job Shadow Programs
Career Path Discussions
Specific Skill Training

Now What?

Once you’ve created your succession plan, determine how to fill the gaps. Leadership development programs should be a key part of your plan. Recognize that leadership and management require different skills than individual contributors (and as leaders or managers move up through the organization, they require new and expanded skill sets).

Ensure you have leadership and management development opportunities for them.

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Beyond Transitions: Safeguarding Your Organization with Strategic Succession Planning