This paper examines the critical components of an effective organizational succession plan, arguing that planning alone is insufficient without active implementation. It addresses the widening gap between entry-level employees and executive leadership, the shortage of qualified middle and senior managers, and the importance of building high-potential candidate pools. The paper outlines the range of unexpected circumstances that can disrupt organizational leadership — from abrupt resignations to sudden incapacity — and emphasizes that successor candidates must be actively trained, not merely identified. It also stresses that succession plans must remain current, be formally documented, and be consistently used to be of any real value.
A successful succession plan takes more than the vain hope that an incoming person can absorb everything the outgoing person knows before the outgoing person is gone. There is much more to it than that. It is called a plan for a reason, and companies that fail to plan correctly will be at a serious loss when it comes to ensuring that newer employees learn all they can from those who are older and approaching retirement (Berger & Berger, 2004). One of the largest problems with succession planning today is that companies are seeing gaps between employees who are low in the hierarchy and those in executive positions (Berger & Berger, 2004). There are not as many qualified people in middle management because many of these positions have been eliminated due to a struggling economy and the desire of businesses to improve their bottom line (Rothwell, 2005).
Senior executives should periodically review the people in top executive positions as well as those on the next lower level (Rothwell, 2005). That way they can identify several different people as backups for each position that might become available. Years of careful training and grooming are generally needed before a person at a lower level is considered ready to take on a senior position, which makes finding these individuals quickly very important. Based on current conditions in the broader business world, it has been estimated that there is a critical shortage of both top and middle leaders, and that this shortage will continue for several years (Rothwell, 2005). Because of this, organizations that want to remain successful will need to create candidate pools from which they can draw (Rothwell, 2005).
All individuals in those pools should have very high leadership potential — they should not simply be chosen because the pool needs to be filled so that the company feels safe. That approach provides only a false sense of security and will not actually help the company succeed in the future, because people selected on those terms will not be able to undertake the training and job duties that would be required of them (Developing, 2003).
A succession plan must take into account not only expected retirements but also the following scenarios:
With those scenarios in mind, it becomes clear that individuals responsible for succession planning must not only focus on the expected retirement dates of senior executives but must also prepare for other eventualities as thoroughly as possible (Feather, 2005). People must be ready to assume a new position, rather than simply being identified as a good candidate for it in the future without receiving any training. Knowing who is expected to succeed someone else is the first step, but certainly not the only step, in proper planning (Feather, 2005). Once a successor has been selected, determining whether he or she is even interested in the position is also valuable information. Most people desire to advance their careers, but others are very comfortable where they are and do not want the pressure that comes with greater responsibility (Waymon, 2005).
In any business, succession planning should be among the most important priorities (Waymon, 2005; Collins, 2007; Axelrod, 2002). If the leader of that business suddenly quits or dies, who will take over, and why was that person chosen? Is that person the one the now-absent leader would have selected? Is that person ready? If the answers to those questions are not known for every senior-level or executive position, it is time to find them. To create a succession plan that will work, questions must be asked and procedures must be addressed. Everything should be written down and formally recorded. The succession plan is a kind of organizational "will," letting those who come after know what should be done (Waymon, 2005). Even companies that believe they have good succession plans often find them ineffective because they were not kept up to date or because they failed to account for every contingency.
"Explains how to formalize and record succession procedures"
"Stresses active implementation over passive documentation"
"Links planning habits to broader organizational resilience"
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