2. Definition and Background
• "Succession planning" is a process for identifying and developing
internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions in
the company. Succession planning increases the availability of
experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these
roles as they become available. - William J. Rothwell
• Succession planning is a process whereby an organization ensures
that employees are recruited and developed to fill each key role
within the company.
3. Succession planning is a conscious decision by an
organization to foster and promote the continual
development of employees, and ensure that key positions
maintain some measure of stability, thus enabling an
organization to achieve business objectives.
Strategic, systematic and deliberate effort to develop
competencies in potential leaders through proposed
learning experiences such as targeted rotations and
educational training in order to fill high-level positions
without favoritism - (Mathew Tropicana, 2004)
4. Objectives of succession planning
Identify those with the potential to assume greater
responsibility in the organization.
Provide critical development experiences to those
that can move into key roles.
Engage the leadership in supporting the
development of high-potential leaders.
Build a data base that can be used to make better
staffing decisions for key jobs.
Improve employee commitment and retention.
Meet the career development expectations of
existing employees .
Counter the increasing difficulty and costs of
recruiting employees externally .
5. Why Succession Planning?
• Engage in a disciplined review of organizational talent
• Guides development activities of staff
• Brings HR systems into alignment
• Assures continuity of key positions
• Avoids transition problems
• Assures new managers are prepared for their jobs
• Focus on Organizational Effectiveness
6. When Succession Planning
Suddenly and unexpectedly unable or unwilling to
continue their role within the organization.
Accepting an approach from another organization or
external opportunity
Lessen their value to the current organization.
Indicating the conclusion of a contract or time-limited
project
Moving to another position and different set of
responsibilities within the organization.
7. Need for Success Planning
• Need for future growth and skill development
• Proactive approach to fill key potential vacancies
• Aligns mission with workplace planning strategy
8. Succession Planning and Succession Management
Succession planning should not and must not stand alone.
It must be paired with succession management which creates
a more dynamic environment.
• A deliberate and systematic effort by an
organization to:
▫ ensure leadership continuity in key positions
▫ retain and develop future intellectual and knowledge capital
▫ encourage individual advancement
▫ Integrated into the HR System
▫ Succession Planning is managed to ensure success
• Should also address the needs for critical backups
and individual development in any job category
9. Checklist to Succeed
Part of an overall organizational culture strategy to develop managers
at all levels.
Ongoing commitment of high-level management.
Part of an integrated HR process
Identify what skills the organization will need in 5, 10 or 15 years
Critical positions must be identified and included in the Company's
Succession Planning program
Analyze the workforce and identify who will be eligible for retirement
within the next five years
10. Checklist to Succeed
• Managers need to identify the responsibilities, skills and competencies
that will be needed by their replacements
Identify high-performers almost ready to step into those critical
positions
Identify specific behaviors, skills and values that leaders to succeed now
and in the future.
Use Assessment tools to make accurate leadership placement and
development decisions.
Establish a system for communicating succession planning information
11. Checklist to Succeed
• Identify a systematic approach for identifying, nominating and selecting
potential successors
Review background information on potential successors, such as
education, experience, skills, appraisals and potential
Determine training and development requirements of potential
successors
Develop skills of potential successors through work experiences, job
rotation, projects and other challenging assignments
Establish a system for monitoring candidate's development plan progress
by senior management
Succession planning must include a system for providing feedback and
encouragement to potential successors
12. Critical Position Profile
• Interview someone in a current leadership role to
determine their job requirements now and in the
future.
• This provides a profile of a successful candidate for
this position
13. Define High Potential Characteristics
• Results Driven – has completed many challenging assignments
• People skill – Influences, motivates, works with a wide range of people.
• Mental ability – Street smart, asks insightful questions
• Lifelong Learning – seeks challenging opportunities for new knowledge,
learns from successes and failures
• Integrated thinking – Links ideas, sees essence of problem
• Flexible – Adjusts priorities, takes risks, embraces change
• Energy – gets energy from work and energizes others
14. I - Successor’s Profile
• Identify a successor’s job profile and experience
to determine their current level of proficiency
15. II - Conduct a Gap Analysis
• Analyze the potential successor’s
experience level and compare to the
advanced level job requirements
16. III - Replacement Planning Process
High potentials nominated as successors by managers, or
Senior Management
Senior management review the recommendations and
make revisions
An HR executive advisory group discusses replacement
skill level, readiness, and potential to get a fairly accurate
judgment of a person’s capability
Recommendations made for potential replacement
opportunities
17. IV - Employee Input
• Identify employee’s career interests, qualifications, and
future job promotion interests on an employee input
form
• Track employee career interests and skill qualifications
for future job opportunities
• Career development discussions between managers and
employees become part of the formal performance
appraisal process
18. Effective People Development Strategies
• Workforce planning
• Competency models
• Succession planning
• Recruitment, Selection,
Hiring - competency based
• Competency Assessment
• Individual Development
Plans
• Formal Leadership
Programs
• Action learning or other
application projects
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Promotion and career
mobility
• Retention
• Training for managers and
supervisors
• Job rotation/development
opportunities
20. Assessment of
Key Positions
Identification of
Key Talent
Assessment of
Key Talent
Generation of
Development Plans
Development
Monitoring &
Review
Key
Elements
Succession Planning: Key Elements
21. 1. Assessment of Key Positions:
• What are the competencies and experiences needed
to qualify for each key position?
2. Identification of Key Talent:
• Typically people at the top two levels of the organization
and high potential employees one level below.
• Identified by their management’s assessment of their
performance and potential for advancement.
3. Assessment of Key Talent:
• For each person on the radar screen, primary development
needs are identified focusing on what they need in order
to be ready for the next level.
Succession Planning: Key Elements
22. 4. Generation of Development Plans:
• A development plan is prepared for how we will help the
person develop over the next year.
5. Development Monitoring & Review
• An annual or semi-annual succession planning review is
held to review progress of key talent and to refresh or
revise their development plan.
Succession Planning: Key Elements
24. Benefits of Succession Planning
24
Source: Aberdeen Group, September 2006
The extent to which leadership job openings can be filled from the
internal pool the av. no. of qualified candidates for each leadership
position the number of positions with two or more ‘ready now’
Candidates the attrition rate from the succession pool can be
decreased
26. Succession Planning
• Identify High Potentials
• Create a Development Plan
• Implement the Plan
• Track the Plan
• Conduct Yearly Calibration Discussions with Your
Manager, and HR to determine Readiness
28. Step 1 – Identifying Key Positions or Key
Groups
Key position or occupational group can be defined in many
different ways, but two important criteria that should be
considered are criticality and retention risk.
A critical position is one that, if it were vacant, would have a
significant impact on the organization’s ability to conduct
normal business.
Retention risk refers to positions where the departure of an
employee is expected (e.g. retirement) or likely (e.g. history of
turnover).
By examining these criteria on a low-to-high scale, an
organization can determine what positions require short- or
long-term planning.
29. Information that may help identify key positions can
include:
• Current and future strategic goals and objectives
• Retirement forecasts
• Turnover rates
• Current and expected vacancies
• Changes to existing programs and services
• Highly specialized function
30. Step 2 – Identifying Competencies
All positions have a requisite set of knowledge,
skills and abilities that are expected of employees
who are filling that function. Thus, knowing the
competencies of a job is a mandatory component
of recruitment, serving as a general baseline to
measure against interested potential candidates.
However, succession planning provides an
opportunity to review the competencies
traditionally associated with jobs, particularly
with respect to current goals and objectives.
31. Step 3 – Identifying and Assessing Potential
Candidates
• The key purpose of identifying and assessing
employees against core job competencies is to
help focus their learning and development
opportunities in order to prepare them for
future roles in the organization.
32. Supporting methods to identify potential
candidates
• Written exams
• Candidate interviews
• Review of résumés/CVs
• Simulated work exercises
• Performance reviews
• Talent review meetings
33. Step 4 – Learning and Development Plans
Once the relevant candidates have been identified,
based on their interest and potential for success in a
key position, the organization must ensure that these
employees have access to focused learning and
development opportunities.
34. Some key points to remember when developing
learning and development plans are:
• Plans should focus on decreasing or removing the
gap between expected competencies and the
current knowledge, skills and abilities of
candidates.
• Manage expectations – Modern succession
planning is based on learning and development to
fulfill employee potential, rather than merely
filling a vacancy.
35. Step 5 – Implementation and Evaluation
Evaluating succession planning efforts will help to
ensure the effectiveness of the process by providing
information regarding:
How the process operates – the relationship between
inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes
Impact of the process relative to stated goals and
objectives
Functional strengths and weaknesses
Potential gaps in planning and assumptions
Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit
36. Key issues to be considered for an effective
succession plan :
The succession planning program must have the support
and backing of the company's senior level management.
Succession planning must be part of an integrated HR
process that includes training, development and
performance appraisal.
Critical positions must be identified and included in the
Company's succession planning program.
Identify high-performers that are almost ready to step into
those critical positions.
Analyze the workforce and identify who will be eligible
for retirement within the next five years.
37. effective succession plan : ……cont
Managers need to identify the responsibilities, skills and
competencies that will be needed by their replacements
A system for communicating succession planning
information to managers must be established.
A systematic approach for identifying, nominating and
selecting potential successors must be established.
The training and development requirements of potential
successors needs to be determined.
38. Tracking Successors
• Methods available:
▫ Competency Assessment
▫ Performance Appraisal
▫ Mentoring Program
▫ Career Experience and Development Activities
▫ Training Records
▫ 360 Feedback
39. SUCCESSION CANDIDATES
KEY POSITION TITLE ________________________
Backup Candidate Name: ______________________
Current Title: ________________________________
Div: ______________ Level of Readiness (Circle One):
Within 1 Yr. 1–3 Yrs. 3–5 Yrs.
__________________________________________________
Strengths for this position:
Developmental needs for this position:
Comments:
__________________________________________________
Date: FY:
Completed by: Division:
