How to Learn and Apply Succession Planning

Succession planning is all about looking towards the future and ensuring a strong workforce is always in place to help organisations thrive. 

Find out how you can learn the techniques and applications of succession planning today and play a key role in helping businesses succeed no matter what the future holds.

Succession planning is the process of finding and developing employees’ skills in an organisation in order to advance their careers and fill senior roles when current post-holders leave. 

This process of developing potential successors to senior vacancies through work experience and training helps to ensure that employees are provided with career development opportunities and organisations are not left struggling with the absence of a senior staff member when someone in that position leaves their post. 

Succession planning will usually work through a process of identifying key areas where skills shortages lie or where several key positions could need filling at some point and creating practical work experience training programmes for eligible employees.

Successful succession planning professionals are able to ensure business continuity by upskilling internal talent and ensuring that a pool of succession candidates is available if a critical role needs filling. By implementing a succession planning strategy, the business does not have to worry when managers, senior leaders or any team member in a specialised role decides to leave, as the process is already streamlined so that new roles are filled with top talent.

There are different approaches to succession planning, including the more traditional top-down succession plan and the more modern talent pool approach. Traditionally, the meaning of succession planning would be to train specific employees for key roles directly above them, essentially creating a linear career path for key employees. However, the more modern succession planning process is linked closely with talent management, finding a pool of employees whose skills can all be developed to fit a variety of roles. 

This is favoured by many organisations due to its flexible nature, making it easier to transition if senior members leave but also if other employees leave. By investing specified work training into specific employees and training them for the talent pipeline, there is a risk that the employee might leave. However, if a number of employees are given particular skills shortages, then this risk is reduced. 

Effective succession planning ultimately comes down to knowing how to put development plans in place to create future leaders effectively. This means being able to pinpoint the critical roles which are vulnerable to skills gaps and being able to identify high-potential internal candidates who would benefit from leadership development opportunities.

Succession planning is an excellent skill to have, especially if you work in business management or in a management/leadership position within an organisation, recruitment or human resources.

Human resources (HR) are responsible for overseeing many aspects of employee management, including training, recruitment, development and employee relations. These core responsibilities mean that for people working in HR or wanting to work in HR, having knowledge of succession planning can help improve employment opportunities, increase value as an HR employee and aid in career progression. 

If you are in a leadership role or mentoring position within your current job, then developing your skill set to include succession planning will greatly help your professional development. Gaining a qualification in succession planning demonstrates that you have learned the key competencies associated with the field, making you a more valuable asset to any organisation and, therefore, a greater candidate for senior management roles.

Becoming qualified in succession planning is important as it can help you develop your career and make you invaluable to any business. Succession planning is becoming increasingly popular due to skills shortages in the UK, and having a proper succession planning procedure in place can ensure a smooth transition when people leave an organisation. 

Succession planning can save an organisation time, money, stress and business loss instead of needing to find and hire new high-performing external employees quickly when someone leaves. They already have a pool of trained staff who are able to fill any future roles. The organisation then saves on potential losses, which often take place during the transition period of trying to fill critical roles, as well as training errors and the unpredictability of employing new staff for critical positions who have not worked for their organisation before. 

Company culture can be greatly improved when putting existing employees into development programs instead of finding new talent. External candidates can be a valuable asset, but there is always the risk of the time taken to discover new talent and introduce new employees having a negative impact on staff retention, team dynamics and performance.

These elements alone make being a qualified succession planner incredibly beneficial, as companies see the value in your expertise. If you have a qualification, you demonstrate that you have the knowledge and skills to find key areas for succession planning and implement successful work training strategies. 

Succession planning requires skills such as talent acquisition, management and strategic planning. Talent Management courses help you develop these key skills and demonstrate to organisations seeking a succession planning professional that you have proven expertise in the field. There are several talent management courses available, including those that specialise in succession planning. 

Learning succession planning through an accredited course means that you can learn the professional skills, techniques and processes which are behind successful succession planning. Practice putting together succession plans, identifying key roles and areas where skills shortages lie and explore positive talent management approaches.

A qualification in succession planning can open the door to a range of future-proof careers, help you in your day-to-day career development and help your business or any business you work for in their workforce planning. Even if you do not go into succession planning as a full-time career, these courses teach leadership skills.

Succession planning is a must-have skill for those looking to develop their HR or management careers or explore a new career path in talent management.