What are some different succession planning examples

Businesses might need to look at what specific succession management plan meets the requirements of their situation. Some examples of when they might need a succession plan include:

• Mergers and acquisitions;
• Due to an emergency, there is a vacancy that needs to be filled for an essential role;
• A business need to prepare a successor for an executive role;
• The smooth overall management of employee talent lifecycles.

Some essential roles businesses might need to fill using a succession plan:

• Executive, board member and head of department roles;
• Chief executive officer (CEO) and head of company roles.

Therefore, a company will have to use the right succession plan based on which essential roles they need to fill, as well as the reason for potential vacancies.

In the next section, we will look at some of the main types of succession planning. These can help businesses better prepare for:

• Leadership and board succession planning;
• Emergency succession planning;
• Basic succession planning.

Leadership and board succession planning

Leadership succession planning can be a particularly sensitive and challenging handover to get right. That’s because talks of replacing a CEO or executives can cause anxiety amongst staff. They could be apprehensive about any major changes it could cause to their role or what it’s like to work for the organisation.

This kind of succession planning may require patience and careful decision-making. Identifying any vulnerabilities in executive roles could be a good first step towards starting a leadership succession plan.

Identifying a new leader to take on the new role may also be a very important step. A candidate who is already in a senior role and shows strong leadership skills, business acumen and knowledge of the industry could be a good option. Coaching or training potential candidates in the skills they’ll need for the role is an essential step.

According to our guide to building and sustaining a culture of inclusive talent management, training can have an impact on improving in-house leadership skills. We also discovered that 77% of employees said they would work harder if they felt better recognised. Employees who participate in in-work training and education are more likely to receive managerial or supervisory responsibilities’, the Office of National Statistics also found.

Below is a checklist for leadership succession planning:

• Identify which roles are business-critical;
• Identify the knowledge-base, skills and traits you require from leaders and board successors;
• Consider top internal candidates from the company talent pool;
• Build a coaching and training programme for top candidates;
• Consider potential options on the external market and hire a talent acquisition specialist if necessary;
• Keep discussions about leadership succession confidential within the boardroom;
• Review and collectively vote on the plan on a regular basis as a board.

Emergency succession planning

In the case that employees from essential roles quit, it can be useful to have an emergency succession plan in place. This is especially important if a business comprises a small team of employees who have years of specialist knowledge about operations, software and organisational systems.

Businesses should be mindful and consider a potential domino effect. If one essential member of staff leaves, others may follow suit. Keeping morale up when replacing essential staff can be a core part of emergency succession planning. One useful way to do this is to keep discussions about emergency planning within the boardroom.

Here is a checklist for emergency succession planning:

• Decide on the requirements for the successor;
• Identify which responsibilities the successor will need to perform in the role;
• Consider top internal candidates from the company talent pool;
• Consider potential options in the external market and hire a talent acquisition specialist if deemed necessary;
• Keep discussions of emergency succession within the boardroom;
• Review and collectively vote on the plan on a regular basis as a board.

Basic succession planning

Businesses may see benefits in focussing on developing talent pools which meet the requirements of certain kinds of roles and clusters of responsibilities. This is instead of finding individuals with the experience to meet a specific role. One of the main benefits of this is that employers can help plan for several different successions in the short and long-term. It also enables businesses to recruit more internally, which can save them time and money.

Upskilling employees can help prepare not only to take on more senior roles, but to anticipate for workforce transformations and other major organisational changes. Upskilling provides employees with the skills that could give businesses a competitive edge in the future.

Below is a checklist for basic succession planning:

• Define the goal, such as what you hope to achieve with a succession plan;
• Identify different role categories within the business;
• Identify succession candidates;
• Identify necessary training;
• Discuss any plans with succession candidates;
• Increase professional development efforts;
• Trial succession plan.

Succession planning for specialist roles

It can be tempting for businesses to focus on replacing leaders. However, it can also be useful to look at which employees have specialist knowledge throughout the entire hierarchy. Those in science-based, research or archival roles may also be difficult to replace. Having programmes in place to replace non-senior specialist employees may be a good strategy here. Businesses could consider sponsoring training schemes or degree qualifications to help fill these roles.

The importance of succession planning

While not all businesses have a succession plan in place, they can be highly useful even for small and medium businesses. Some of the reasons that succession planning might be relevant include:

• When executive employees are looking to retire;
• Means that businesses do not have to headhunt externally for new senior staff using specialist talent acquisition teams;
• Creates a clear career progression plan for employees which can boost morale and engagement.

For small and medium businesses, succession plans can be particularly important. This is because knowledge about business systems may only be known by certain members of staff and they will need to be able to pass on that knowledge once they leave the role. 

Businesses of all sizes can do well to prepare to replace employees in essential roles. This can include basic planning, emergency planning and leadership and board succession planning. Being able to keep knowledge of systems and processes within a team after succession can be particularly important for smaller teams. Succession planning for specialist knowledge worker roles may also be a useful consideration.