Could your employees answer the question: “What is the succession planning strategy at our company?”
They could—if you’ve discussed it with them.
And you could, if you’ve actually developed one for your organization.
Succession planning isn’t just a checkbox activity—it’s a critical strategy that builds confidence for employees and ensures long-term stability for your company. For employees, it answers the “what’s next?” question. For managers and leadership, it’s a proactive approach that aligns talent development with future leadership needs.
What Is Succession Planning?
Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing future leaders at all levels of the organization. It ensures business continuity when employees retire, resign, are promoted, become ill—or even pass away.
Rather than reacting to a crisis, organizations with strong succession plans are ready for the future. They prepare high-potential employees to step into critical roles through structured development, mentoring, and visibility into advancement opportunities.
A modern skills development platform can support this by tracking capabilities, aligning employee growth with leadership goals, and enabling data-driven decision-making.
Why Succession Planning Matters
Succession planning often falls by the wayside—but it shouldn’t. It’s not about reacting to loss. It’s about creating a controlled, strategic process that builds organizational strength from within.
Done well, it results in:
- Greater employee retention
- Stronger leadership pipelines
- Reduced hiring costs
- Improved morale and clarity around career growth
8 Succession Planning Best Practices
Whether you’re a small business or a global enterprise, these best practices can help you launch or strengthen your succession strategy:
1. Be Proactive
It takes time to prepare someone for a leadership role. Don’t wait until a position is vacant—start early. Even if you don’t anticipate turnover, grooming someone now builds a safety net for the future.
2. Broaden Your Perspective
Your next leader may not be the most obvious choice. Look beyond job titles. Identify people who demonstrate the core skills, values, and potential to succeed—regardless of their current role.
3. Cultivate a Culture of Growth
Expose future leaders to strategic conversations and business-wide goals. Involve HR and your board in the planning process to ensure alignment. Leadership development should be embedded in your culture, not treated as a siloed initiative.
4. Give Frequent, Constructive Feedback
Track performance continuously—not just during annual reviews. Document top-performer behaviors, project outcomes, and leadership indicators. This creates a living record you can refer to when evaluating succession candidates.
5. Invest in Development
Offer top performers opportunities like:
- Mentorships
- Job shadowing
- Coaching
- Cross-functional projects
Remember: great leaders need more than technical skills. Prioritize soft skills like communication, adaptability, and diplomacy.
👉 Looking to build better growth paths? Read: How to Create Employee Development Plans That Work
6. Conduct a Skills Audit
A skills audit helps you identify current capabilities and gaps. When someone leaves, you’ll be able to quickly search for qualified internal candidates—or understand what hiring is required.
📘 More on this: Read our article on skills audits
7. Run a Pilot Test
Let potential successors take the lead during vacations or on special projects. This “test run” provides valuable experience for them—and valuable insight for you into their readiness.
8. Align Succession Planning With Hiring Strategy
Once you’ve identified internal successors, turn your focus to the gaps. Use those insights to shape external hiring strategies, especially for niche or high-risk roles.
The Bottom Line: Prepare for the Future
Succession planning is more than a retention tool—it’s a commitment to the long-term health of your organization. By identifying future leaders and supporting their growth, you protect business continuity and increase employee engagement.
When paired with workforce planning and powered by a skills development platform, succession planning becomes a strategic advantage—not just a contingency plan.
Start early. Build deliberately. Lead confidently.