There is a lot of conflicting information about succession planning. If you view it as an annual exercise of nominating successors for leadership positions and enrolling them in development courses, you are not alone. But there is a fundamental problem with this approach: most nominated successors never end up in the roles they were intended for.
Without leaders in critical positions, your company cannot adapt quickly to unexpected changes. Succession planning is not just an HR best practice - it is a business continuity requirement.
What effective succession planning delivers
Mitigates risk: Maintains a steady supply of talent into critical positions and prepares the company for unexpected leadership changes.
Keeps employees engaged: Signals that the company cares about career growth and development, improving retention of top talent.
Retains knowledge: Preserves critical institutional knowledge and specialist skills.
Reduces costs: Prevents unnecessary recruitment costs, especially at executive level, by developing and promoting internal employees.
Ensures strategic fit: Aligns future leaders with the company's strategic direction and goals.
Guides development: Succession readiness assessments highlight key areas for growth, so you stop wasting resources on the wrong successors.
Succession planning vs succession management
People often use these terms interchangeably. The distinction matters. Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing new leaders to replace current leaders when they leave. Succession management takes a broader approach - it aims to build a talent pipeline that supports long-term strategic growth and unexpected change.
The difference is in how accurately you measure time-to-readiness, what the successor needs to prepare for their future role, and how fast you can close the gap. Succession management is not about whether a successor is 'ready now' or 'ready later'. You need to determine both the distance of identified successors from their target position and the speed at which they are travelling to accurately predict their time of arrival.
The time-to-readiness problem
Vague descriptions like 'ready now', 'ready later', or 'ready in 1-2 years' are not useful. The difference between 'ready in one year' and 'ready in two years' is significant. Accurate readiness assessment is what separates succession management from succession planning.
The 5 steps of an effective succession plan
- 1
Define your strategic objectives and identify the critical roles needed to support the business now and in the future. Remember: succession planning is not only for leadership positions. Any role with high impact, scarce skills, or strategic importance qualifies.
- 2
Identify all possible successors using clear criteria - skills, competencies, experience, and behavioural requirements. A common mistake is nominating successors based on visibility rather than a systematic search across the organisation.
- 3
Assess readiness accurately using multiple data points. Vague categorisations fail. You need a framework that measures both the distance (gap between current state and target role) and the speed (ability and willingness to close the gap).
- 4
Create personalised development plans that address both the distance gap (skills-based training, cross-training, exposure) and the speed gap (leadership development, mentoring, stretch assignments).
- 5
Monitor progress regularly. Review readiness assessments, update development plans, and plan a smooth handover when the successor is genuinely ready - not just when the business needs them to be.
Assessing readiness accurately
Many companies are overly reliant on a single assessment tool - often a personality assessment - or they only evaluate current performance without considering what will be required in the future role. To make better decisions about successors, you need to consider multiple factors.
At Peopletree Group, we assess readiness using nine data points across two dimensions. Distance data points measure the gap between where the successor is now and the target position. Speed data points measure how quickly they can close that gap.
The nine readiness data points
**Distance (the gap)** - Current performance - Technical skills for the target position - Cognitive ability - Relevant experience
**Speed (the ability to close the gap)** - Career interest in the function - Mobility (geographical flexibility) - Emotional intelligence - Learning agility - Institutional knowledge
The role of technology
The software and technology you choose should enhance both the speed and accuracy of answering the question: 'Who is our next leader?' If your data is incomplete, it limits your ability to answer accurately. If your data is difficult to access or takes too long to collect and analyse, it limits your ability to answer quickly.
If you have been managing your succession process with disparate software systems, manual spreadsheets, or missing data, it may be time to upgrade to an end-to-end succession solution.
Common mistakes to avoid
Nominating successors based on visibility rather than systematic criteria - this narrows the pool and overlooks talent outside the incumbent's immediate network.
Using vague readiness descriptions that do not give you an accurate time-to-readiness prediction.
Failing to inform identified successors of their status - fear of creating false expectations leads to successors leaving because they are unaware of the opportunity.
Assigning the current incumbent as the successor's developer - they should be involved in knowledge transfer, but the developer should be the incumbent's manager or the person making the final hiring decision.
Treating succession as an annual event rather than a continuous process that evolves with the business.