Succession planning: the importance of preparing ahead of time

23 of September, 2022

Preparing succession planning is vital if you want to keep your high performing employees in your leadership structure. Most of all though, succession planning allow you to prepare for leadership change in a smooth and successful manner. Identifying future leaders is vital for making sure your company is resilient despite a high turnover of employees and any other

So to help you identify future leaders, we give you the lowdown on what succession planning is and how effective it can be. You can also download reports on high performers via a time management app like Sesame

What is the definition of succession planning?

Succession planning is similar to employee turnover only for the leadership of a company. Succession planning is about identifying successors to key leadership roles so that when these are left vacant by a sudden departure, ready made, in-house solutions available. One must stress that succession planning looks in house rather than at an external recruitment process in the organization.

Succession planning as a concept was originally employed when talking about the succession to a monarch or a dictator. Often the succession, while hereditary, was still carefully planned by backroom advisors and the court looking to find suitable entourages to the heir apparent or depose them. Business can, funnily enough, work in similar ways. Sometimes the person directly below the leader of a team is not necessarily the most suited to the leadership role.

How do I find future leaders during the succession plan?

Identify future leaders by creating a competency matrix. A competency matrix looks at both an employee’s current effectiveness and their potential. The matrix divides itself into 9 quadrants and the top right has the highest likelihood of being a future leader, as they are both high performing and have high potential for development.

After you have identified those in this position, you now need to take a more qualitative approach. Does the employee assume strong leadership qualities? Have they faced up to difficult challenges and been under pressure? Are they able to take difficult decisions in short periods of time? These are all qualities to look for you in your future leader.

How do I retain employees that are future leadership material?

Employee retention is an important driver of maintaining your succession plan intact. Knowing the best practices to keep your employees on board, outside of financial packages, is really important. Keep you employees motivated and challenged. Offer them feedback that they use to improve their work.

Managers across the organisation also need to have constantly in mind their own succession and hold monthly talks with employees. This helps them understand which ones commit to the cause and which ones are likely to leave. Invest in people who commit to the long term and try to implement a culture of loyalty, however difficult it may be in the modern era.

• You can also create scenarios and see how employees respond to these. This known as game-planning in some enterprises. It highlights the necessity of employees to prepare for leadership by not just doing their tasks well, but rather developing into leadership roles through practice and scenarios.