How Does Leadership Development Fit in With Succession Planning? A Roadmap to Organizational Success

Leadership transitions can make or break a business. Yet, many companies wait until a crisis occurs—like a sudden retirement or resignation—before thinking about succession planning. The truth? Forward-thinking leadership development and succession planning go hand in hand, ensuring your organization thrives, no matter who’s at the helm.

If you answered B, you are correct, but keep reading. There’s plenty of new insight and ideas you can apply to your existing knowledge.

If you answered A, you are incorrect, so again, keep reading. We’ll give you lots of applicable information so you can implement this important planning tool into your business toolbox.

If you answered C, maybe read this article two or three times to see if you can flip that thinking! :)

In this article, you’ll learn how succession planning and leadership development naturally tie together in pursuit of one fundamental goal: preparing your people with the right skills. Most important, you’ll learn how to create a roadmap to enable your company to move and shift quickly when changes in industry, technology and operations transpire.

First, let’s put this oft-heard preconceived notion aside: no matter how big or small, young or old the company or CEO may be, no business should operate without a succession plan! Succession planning gives organizations an opportunity to become proactive instead of reactive when it comes to developing leaders and filling vacancies. If you're a CEO and need help with succession planning, read this blog.

Another common myth about succession planning is that succession planning is only for C-suite replacement … but don’t fall into that limited line of thinking, instead go ahead and read about the three different categories of succession planning.

As you can see from the graph above, we’re about to lose a huge number of leaders from the workplace, yet many businesses are failing to give up-and-coming employees the leadership development they need to succeed.

Building Your Leadership Pipeline

This generational leadership transition shouldn’t be a hasty task. Instead, it should consist of a long-term process for managing talent across your organization while establishing a steady, reliable pipeline of leadership candidates. Think of this as a best practice for sustainability.

It's crucial for you to know where your company is going and how it's going to get there. More specifically, you must ask this question on a regular and recurring basis: What skills will be essential for future roles as well as current ones?

At this point, you may find it helpful to go through our pre-succession planning checklist, but if you’re ready to begin thinking about your leadership development roadmap, follow the 5 steps below to get started:

Step 2 – Identify and define capabilities for key areas and positions

Assess and designate those that are critical to the organization’s operational activities and strategic objectives. Determine specific functions and update job descriptions.

Step 4 – Identify knowledge loss risks and priorities

Set strategies for learning, training and development. Develop and implement succession and knowledge transfer plans, preferably with leadership buy-in.

The Bottom Line

Succession planning is less about moving people into management positions and more about creating tracks that help team members develop the skills and attributes that help them grow into the next level of their careers, while helping the company meet its long-term goals.

By implementing a multi-level, leadership-focused succession plan, your organization will:

• Build a pipeline of high-quality candidates for critical positions
• Develop the competency and retention of your most valuable talent
• Offer opportunities and incentives for top talent to remain dedicated
• Avoid costly interruption of work if/when critical talent resigns
• Minimize the threat and high cost of turnover

If you would like to learn more about how to create and implement a comprehensive succession plan, click here to download our free succession planning templates below.