Talent & Succession Planning Guide

Succession

Succession planning ensures that we have the right people in place to take over key roles within the company when colleagues leave or retire. Identifying and developing colleagues as successors guarantees a smooth transition when someone in a critical role departs. It also helps to retain our own-grown talent. Succession planning supports our internal goal of promoting from within and works hand in hand with our learning journeys and career pathways to support skilled and capable colleagues to step into new roles.

Help! I don’t have any successors? Don’t panic, there are proactive steps you can take to to mitigate the risks by hiring for specific skillsets externally, looking at apprenticeships as a way of bringing new talent into the business or having career conversations with colleagues to re-evaluate their interests, goals and aspirations. Key Roles - these are our business critical roles. Typically these are our leadership positions but they also include identifying “single points of failure” where only one colleague has the specialist skills for a particular role. Emergency Successors - these are people who could step into a role temporarily in the “someone wins the lottery” scenario. They might not be a long-term successor, but they may have the skillset to hold the fort for a short period until a long-term replacement is secured. Ready Now - these are people who are ready for more challenge and responsibility now. They could step into a more senior role immediately with the trust and confidence that they would thrive in maintaining business continuity and driving growth. Future Successors - these are people who have the potential to develop into key roles in the future at 1-2 years or 3-5 years. By indentifying our future successors we can put in place development plans that will make colleagues “ready now” in line with future plans.