Succession Planning: 6 ways to tell if your leadership is future-proof

The uncertain economic climate and wider macro events in 2023 presented many challenges for business leaders to overcome. Some of these issues will continue in 2024 including how businesses can enhance the capabilities of their existing leaders and nurture the development of their future leaders. 

Recent employee and leader surveys have highlighted the link between leadership development and retention, what succession plans are in place and the significant challenges associated with these plans.

• Do businesses have the right leaders in place to step up on an emergency basis if critical roles become vacant through unplanned temporary or permanent departures?
• When were the plans last reviewed and do they allow for business continuity?
• How much long-term succession planning has been done to identify and groom talent for planned departures?
• Is there the bench strength to fill those critical roles – possibly a lot sooner than expected?

These questions address what HR leads are doing to identify talent that embraces the skills and behaviours that define fit-for-future leadership that also reflects a diverse and inclusive pool of future talent.

That’s a very long shopping list of needs and shortcomings and there isn’t always enough time to cover all bases when it comes to talent management. A key step to achieving this is a careful assessment of the organisation's bench strength and succession planning. Is there the people to fill critical role, and do they have the skills to lead into the future?

The following mini-questions is not a roadmap to a comprehensive succession plan, but it can help identify areas of immediate need.

1. How often are you having succession planning conversations?
Many organisations see succession planning as an event that kicks into gear once a vacancy has materialised. Succession planning is actually an ongoing process to assess, re-assess and modify talent management strategies to ensure that you are not left with a hole that cannot be filled seamlessly.

If you’re a senior leader or an HR professional, and you can’t remember the last strategic succession planning meeting they’ve had, then it’s probably been too long. If it is not part of annual talent reviews, you may be falling short. If it hasn’t been considered in light of strategy changes it may be obsolete. If it doesn’t make it onto the Board agenda, your organisation may be exposed.

2. How deep do you need to drill in your succession plan?
A good succession plan will tell you who is ready now to step into a critical position, and who might be ready within varying time horizons to plan for different scenarios. The primary focus should be on your critical roles – those you cannot afford to have vacant and consider the domino effect. As leaders are targeted to move into new roles, what does their succession plan look like, in turn?

3. Does your organisation have the talent to improve D&I in the leadership ranks?
Although it is a top-of-mind issue for most organisations, efforts to organically improve leadership D&I have largely failed. If we are to make real progress in increasing under-represented groups in leadership, organisations need to become more planful and deliberate, rather than just hoping that the problem will address itself. Asking yourself this question should reveal whether you have an untapped reservoir of diverse talent ready to step into leadership roles, or whether it will be necessary to look outside.

4. Are your leaders of the future really fit for the future?
Organisations need to define the leadership culture and critical competencies key to future success. While your strategy will determine some of what is identified, there are some over-arching changes that have taken hold. Top talent is demanding a new relationship dynamic with their leaders. Communication, truth telling, connection, inclusion, empathy, and self-awareness are critically important now and will only gain in importance in the new world of work.

Once you define a leadership culture, you can assess your current leaders and high potential talent against those future skills and behaviours, to see who has what it takes, where to focus development, and who may not be the best fit for your plans.

5. How will you know when to go external?
A dynamic succession plan should start early enough to allow a focus on internal candidates and preparing them for roles, unless there is a significant strategy change that requires new skill sets. The starting point should always be the talent that is needed – the skills, capabilities, competencies and then using this as the backdrop to assess leaders This demand-driven, objective assessment provides the foundation for determining a development roadmap for internal leaders and/or when an external candidate is the right answer.

In some instances, this may mean hiring someone to go directly into a key leadership role; in other situations, it may mean hiring someone externally with the intent to develop them for a critical role. Following this approach sends the right message internally, regarding growth opportunities, while ensuring that the organisation has the talent it needs. And recruitment is focused where it needs to be, not as the fall-back response to ensure business continuity.

6. Do you also have a crisis management plan?
In addition to long-term planning, the pandemic has certainly amplified the need for all leaders to be thinking about unplanned and emergency needs. While this might include separation because of illness, or unanticipated retirements, there are certain types of sudden departures that require a more nuanced approach, such as a leader who is forced to step down for performance or questionable behaviour. Does your organisation have a rapid-response emergency protocol and an emergency successor identified?

The pandemic and other societal impacts that have coalesced have taken a huge toll on business leaders. So much so, that it’s very hard to foresee the full impact it’s going to have on individuals who may be in desperate need of respite or a change. Organisations that build broad succession plans that account for both long-term and short-term departures will be well served well into the future.

Planning ahead allows you to achieve full value from existing leadership bench strength, and support them with targeted recruitment of external talent when necessary. It’s the difference between a state of organisational readiness and having to apply knee-jerk solutions to key talent decisions.