Ezgi Cullu
Maybe you’re creating an outline on your next succession planning and looking for a template, or you’re just wondering what a succession planning template is. Don’t worry –we’ll make sure to answer all your questions and much more about succession planning template in this post!
Let’s define succession planning first. Simply put, succession planning is the process of finding and developing future leaders who will take over key roles within an organization. It’s no secret that change is inevitable, and the same goes for leadership changes within a company. Succession planning ensures a smooth transition of leadership and minimizes any potential disruptions to the organization’s operations.
We aim to help you create a comprehensive and effective succession planning template and guide you through these steps. Whether you’re new to the idea or a seasoned pro, we will provide you with the succession planning framework you need to ensure the continued success of your company. Without further ado –let’s get started!
Table of Contents
How To Create A Succession Planning Template?
Assessment of Current Staff
It all starts with taking a good look at your current team, including understanding their skills, strengths, and areas for improvement. This information will be crucial as you move forward with succession planning since you will choose the next leaders of your organization from your current staff.
The first step in assessing your staff is to create a comprehensive list of your employees’ skills and competencies. This can include both technical skills and soft skills, such as communication and leadership abilities or knowledge of coding and Photoshop.
Once you have a clear understanding of your team’s skills and strengths, it’s important to provide opportunities for them to grow and develop. Provide training, mentorship programs, and other career development initiatives to your employees and make room for them to grow.
The last step in assessing your staff for your succession plan template is to evaluate their performance after the development period. This can be done through regular performance reviews, feedback from colleagues and superiors, and by tracking key performance metrics. For example, you can use an OKR software to assess the overall performance of your employees on your OKRs.
Identifying Key Positions
Key positions are critical to your organization’s success, and these are the positions you will give place in your succession planning template. These key positions include top leadership roles, or positions that are unique and difficult to replace.
You can ensure that your succession plan is focused on the most important roles within your organization by identifying these key positions. This helps to minimize the risk of disruptions and ensure the continued success of your company after applying the succession planning template.
When identifying key positions, there are a few key criteria to keep in mind such as the importance of the role to the success of your organization, the level of skill and expertise needed for the role, and the level of risk involved if the role were to become vacant.
Development of Succession Planning Template
And now we move on to the exciting part – developing your succession strategies! You can use internal succession, external succession or both as your strategy in your next planning session!
Internal succession refers to promoting and developing existing staff members to take on key roles within the organization. Using internal succession allows you to build on the skills and experience of your current staff and ensure a smooth transition of leadership and helps you to cut costs.
External succession involves hiring new talent from outside of the organization to fill key positions, which can be a good choice if you’re looking to bring in fresh perspectives and new ideas.
Finally, you can also consider a combination of internal and external succession that will allow you to take the best of both worlds –using the experience and skills of your current staff, while also bringing in fresh ideas and perspectives from outside of the organization.
With these options in mind, it’s time to start developing your own succession strategies. Get creative, think outside the box, and come up with a plan that works best for your organization!
Monitoring Progress
Evaluations should be performed at regular intervals to assess the progress of the candidates and the overall success of the succession plan. Evaluating candidates provides a chance to find areas where they may need more support or development. For example, if a candidate is struggling in a particular area, the development plan can be adjusted to address the issue and create a new strategy.
Evaluations can also help to find any new or emerging talent that may need to be included in the succession plan. Regular evaluations can be conducted through performance reviews, skill assessments, or other means of measuring progress. You can use task software to automatize evaluation process in your succession planning template.
It is important to involve the relevant stakeholders in the evaluation process, including managers, HR professionals, and the succession planning team. This ensures everyone understands the progress being made and gives an opportunity to make any necessary changes to the plan. Organizations can ensure that their succession plan still is relevant and effective in preparing for the future by monitoring progress and making regular evaluations. Since this step will include some online assessments and meetings, using a collaborative tool can become handy.
You can check out our 10 collaboration tools for remote teams post for an in-depth look, but we have the perfect all-in-one remote team management tool if you’re using Microsoft Teams! Teamflect is the ultimate user-friendly HR software that will make your succession planning process a breeze. With many features from feedback templates to sending recognitions and its seamless Microsoft Teams integration, Teamflect is one of the best choice of collaboration tools in the market for leading remote teams.
What Is A Succession Planning Template?
Outline of Template
The succession planning template is a comprehensive document that outlines the key components of the succession plan, typically including sections such as identifying key positions, evaluating potential candidates, developing plans for candidates, and monitoring progress. The template can also include sections on communication and implementation strategies and considerations for future changes to the plan.
Benefits of Using a Free Succession Planning Template
Using a template can be incredibly helpful when it comes to creating a succession plan. A template provides a structure and a starting point for your plan, which can make the process much easier and more efficient. It can also help ensure that you don’t miss any important steps or details along the way. By using a template, you can save time and focus your efforts on the most important aspects of succession planning.
Using a succession planning template is like having a trusty sidekick to help you on your planning journey. It comes with a bunch of benefits that make the process smoother and more efficient. With a template, you don’t have to start from scratch since it will give you a structure and a starting point, so you can focus on the important stuff.
In addition, a succession planning template covers all the essential components of a succession plan, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything important. But don’t get the wrong impression from the word “template”. Every business is unique, and your succession plan should reflect that. Therefore, a succession planning template should be easily customizable to fit the specific needs of your company.
How to Customize the Template for Your Business
Think of a succession planning template as a starting point, not a one-size-fits-all solution. To make the most of it, you’ll want to customize it to fit the specific needs of your business.
Here’s how:
Identify your goals and priorities: Start by deciding what your business needs to achieve with its succession plan. This will help guide the customization process.
Tailor the language: Make sure the language used in the template aligns with your business’s mission, values, and culture.
Add or remove sections: If there’s a section that’s not relevant to your business, feel free to remove it. And if there’s something you want to include that’s not already there, go ahead and add it!
Update the plan as needed: As your business evolves, so too should your succession plan. Regularly review and update your plan to make sure it’s always up-to-date and relevant.
Customizing the template for your business is like giving it a personal touch. It helps ensure that your plan is tailored specifically to your organization, and that it will be effective in achieving your goals. So have fun with it, and don’t be afraid to make it your own!
Conclusion
In this post, we’ve explored the importance of succession planning and the steps you need to take to create a comprehensive plan. From identifying key positions and assessing your talent pool, to monitoring progress and using a template, we’ve covered it all.
Succession planning is a crucial aspect of business planning that ensures the future success of your organization and helps your business thrive. It helps you prepare for vacancies, keep business continuity, and cultivate future leaders. If you happen to have a solid succession plan, you can sleep soundly knowing that your business is in good hands, no matter what the future may bring.
So, what are you waiting for? Whether you use a template or create your plan from scratch, the important thing is that you take the first step to succession planning. Remember, succession planning is an ongoing process that requires regular review and updates. So dive in, get started, and take your business to the next level! Schedule a demo with us for a help in your performance management!
