7 Goals Of Succession Planning

To be successful an organisation must ensure that employees are recruited and developed to fill key roles within a company before they become vacant. Succession planning is not just about establishing paths for promotion, it’s about matching the right person for every job in a company. For example, if a key position in the organisation has a high probability of being vacated by pending retirement or flight risk, a plan to identify another individual with the right skills and experience to replace them needs to be made ahead of time.

The process of succession planning enables an organisation to:

1. Determine the right skill mix to achieve company goals and determine what gaps need closing.
2. Identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for future responsibilities.
3. Identify which employees that are at risk of leaving.
4. Identify and plan steps to retain superior employees.
5. Build “bench strength” by identifying positions key to the company’s success.
6. Determine where employees best fit in the organisation.
7. Identify employees who are poor performers or who don’t align with the company’s goals.

Effective succession planning requires clarity on an organisation’s long term goals. The process needs to take into account the developmental needs and goals of each employee. Key employees then need to understand the roles, responsibilities, and career paths of the positions that they are being developed to fill. Job employment trends in the organisation’s industry must be examined to identify roles that are difficult to fill externally and then acted upon to recruit more widely or offer more training internally.

Basic Organisation Chart For Succession Planning

A diagnostic org chart can be created to enable a clear view of the workplace for planning purposes. Org charting software tools help visualise the organisation and its personnel ‘hot spots’. OrgChart automates the organisation mapping and visualisation process pulling pre-existing data from your existing HRIS. The basic chart above clearly shows positions that are filled, but are expected to be vacant, using OrgChart Now. Additional fields may be added to display key metrics such as tenure, expected departure date, skill sets etc.

An org chart presentation of the data can become fundamental to communicating the urgency for serious planning and taking action to protect a company’s greatest asset. The ultimate goal of succession planning is to promote and hire superior people that have the passion, character, capability and track record for the job. 

If your company is looking to use automated org charts to plan for the future, download a free trial or schedule a demo of OrgChart with one of our experts.