“I’m leaving.” Within a week, he’d gone. There had been no succession planning process. No one had expected him to go.
Along with him went his organizational knowledge, industry experience, and even account logins.
Everyone was left scrambling. He’d been pivotal to just about everything, from software development to purchasing to company culture. There was an immediate shift.
While this is something that happened in a previous role of mine, it’s not unique. People leave roles all the time for various reasons and there are no guarantees you’ll see it coming.
There’s a very simple solution to it, though: establish a succession planning process.
An effective succession planning process ensures that, if someone does leave, there are people there to pick up where that person left off. Organizational knowledge doesn’t leave with them—nor do company logins.
(Seriously; it’s 2025. Use a password manager. There are enough of them.)
So let’s delve into how to implement a succession planning process, why it matters, and how to optimize it.
Why does having a succession planning process matter?
In addition to ensuring there’s no mad panic when someone leaves, it’s also a reason for people to stay.
Over half of employees would be “significantly more engaged” if their employer had a succession plan, and 94% of employers feel having one positively impacts employee engagement.
A succession planning process is vital for younger employees in particular, with over 90% of employees between 18 and 34 saying that working somewhere with a succession plan would improve their engagement levels.
And I can see why. It stops the job from feeling so monotonous and dead-ended. Especially in a world where so many of us now live to work instead of work to live. We lack third spaces and hobbies to interest and motivate us, and work rarely pays enough for us to make ends meet. To fill the void, we want more from our work.
At my first role, there was no succession planning process. Likely because there was nowhere to actually go.
Some people had been in roles for a decade or more and didn’t want to move. For some people, that’s fine.
But if you want to motivate employees, particularly younger ones, you want to give them something to aim for.
Succession planning process questions
Here are some questions to answer for your succession planning process:
What are your critical roles?
These are the roles where, if there’s no one in them, things fall apart. Much like the one I referenced in the introduction.
What your mission-critical roles are will depend on your business.
They might include:
- IT helpdesk/maintenance, so there’s always someone if technology breaks
- Finance, so you can pay employees and taxes on time
- HR, to deal with employee disputes
- Marketing, so your leads don’t grind to a halt
- Sales, so there’s someone around to nurture your leads and turn them into customers
What are your eligibility requirements?
What requirements will people need to be considered as part of your succession planning process? Are you focusing on skills or mindset? A combination of the two?
Speak to the people already in your key roles, those who’ve been promoted from them, and those who work alongside them. This will give you a clear picture of what someone needs to be a success and keep everything running smoothly.
Then, write a job description based on these characteristics. It will give employees something to aim for and you something to compare their skills against.
How will you fill your talent pipeline?
Who will you nominate as successors? How will you find them? Will you ask people to put themselves forward, or get managers to nominate people? A combination of the two? How will you communicate that there’s an opening coming up?
A succession planning process only works if there’s talent in your pipeline to promote. Even if that talent is passive.
When and how will you train people?
Training is a key part of your succession planning process. Without it, whoever gets promoted may not be prepared to take on the role and things are likely to fall apart.
There are plenty of ways to train people, from online courses to lunch and learns to all-day workshops and more. Offering a variety of training options means you can train a wider range of candidates in a wider range of skills.
Will you offer mentoring?
Mentoring is a great tool for knowledge sharing, particularly when it comes to your succession planning process and nurturing your future leaders.
A formal mentoring scheme ensures that knowledge is shared more easily and openly. Plus, shy employees who may not want to ask for help or for someone to mentor them can still get to grow.
Mentoring can be a useful way to teach employees the technical and soft skills they need, as well as improve their confidence and develop a growth mindset.
What soft skills will they need?
Over half of managers never receive any formal training, but becoming a manager requires a whole new set of skills, including:
- Conflict resolution
- Corporate politics
- Employee management
- Juggling their workload with supporting employees
Mentoring is an effective way to teach soft skills such as these.
ERGs are another option.
ERGs are often untapped training resources where employees can organize learning sessions themselves, share resources, and ask for advice.
Workrowd can help you get more from your employee groups. Using Workrowd, your employees can find everything they need to know in one place, including the latest employee events, programs, and networking opportunities. It’s your one-stop-shop for employee initiatives. Get in touch today to find out more.
Conclusion
Having a succession planning process ensures that when someone leaves, your business keeps running. It means you’re not reliant on a handful of core people to keep things going and your employees are motivated because they know they won’t be doing the same thing day in, day out, forever.
An effective succession planning process accounts for employees’ strengths as well as offering training opportunities so that when you do promote them, they’re adequately prepared for what’s next.
