What would happen today if a critical leader or a long-time employee left your organization?  Does it open leadership or skills gaps that may set your organization back, or even cripple it? Having a vacancy in a position that is crucial to the organization’s operations is not good business practice, to say the least.

Succession planning should be tied to your organization’s strategic goals and long-term vision. If it’s not, and a key leader leaves the organization, then confusion, lack of direction and uncertainty may lead to decreased investor trust, operational disruptions and a decline in overall performance and morale.

Succession planning involves making long-term investments in leadership continuity, organizational stability and continued business success. The business investment creates a resilient organization that’s always ready for both the expected, such as the retirement of the CEO, and the unexpected, like a sudden death of a C-suite member or the CMO pursuing a new opportunity elsewhere.

It’s imperative that leadership positions are filled with qualified, confident individuals who have been well-groomed since day one of onboarding. And keep in mind that highly skilled leadership positions are challenging to fill.

The Succession Plan

Having a well-thought-out and detailed succession plan in place mitigates risk. Without a plan in place, it will be difficult to move the organization forward.

The plan should include identifying and preparing high-potential employees for future leadership roles. This not only includes mentoring but making sure they receive the proper training they need. Identifying skills gaps is of utmost importance to their success.

The Succession Plan Benefits

The benefits of succession planning are plentiful. Here’s a short list:

• Provides a stable future for the organization
• Sets a clear path to skill development, career growth and advancement
• Opens opportunities to expand leadership team with diverse talent
• Saves recruitment cost by promoting from within the organization
• Allows tribal knowledge to spread during the grooming stage
• Leverages institutional knowledge
• Ensures a smooth transition so operations are not in disarray during transition
• Safeguards morale
• Increases success rates as internal high-potential employees are groomed for the position and have a firm understanding of the company culture and goals
• Creates a dedicated and loyal leadership team

If your organization does not have a succession plan in place, start with a succession planning template.  It’s a six-step process and includes everything from creating a mentorship program template, to establishing a leadership training program, to drafting a policy, to identifying, developing and retaining high-potential employees.

Establishing a Leadership Training Program

New leaders must be prepared for the challenges they’ll face not only in the first year but in the years to come. Today’s workforce is more diverse and digital than ever before. Whether we’re talking about remote, hybrid or in-office workers, times are different and continue to change. Employees must be able to adapt to the rapidly changing world of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and be armed with the future-ready skills required.

For a succession plan to be successful, effective training needs to start early and be in place for all employees at all levels in the entire organization.

Here is what you need to think about at different employee stages, and beyond:

Entry-Level Employee: Learning and Development

First and foremost, the training must be ongoing beginning day one of onboarding. This investment will provide a workforce that’s not only skilled but resilient and able to face challenges the future brings.

Entry-level employees must learn essential skills like self-awareness to be able to leverage their strengths, communication skills to build business relationships, and professionalism to stand out.

Effective training must be solid enough to lead high-potential employees to the next level with confidence. A strong, well-thought-out training program is also key to keeping them both engaged and loyal.

Middle Management: Closing Skill Gaps

During the middle management phase, some employees acquire skills on the job that will have sustained usefulness throughout the life of their careers. These skills are invaluable and set them apart from others.

The types of training middle managers need are as unique as the individual. Some may need to learn how to lead a team; others may need training in making strategic decisions. For example, a leadership training program may include people management, decision making and strategic thinking.

Executive Leadership: Learning and Development Continuity

Executive leaders must drive the organization forward, which requires vision, managing stakeholders and leading change.

The executives’ focus is on learning how to successfully lead other leaders. During this stage of the employees’ career, mentorships are essential as leaders still need learning and development (L&D) engagement. Just as important are strategic workshops and cross-industry networking as part of their learning journey.

A Structured Development Path: Developing Emerging Leaders

The constant changes in today’s modern business world demand changes in traditional leadership training programs. Programs must not only build but retain the next generation of leaders. How programs are designed is just as critical as how they are delivered.

Having a structured development plan in place allows the organization to retain top talent and align with strategic goals. It ensures that organizations have a pipeline of capable, confident individuals ready to step into their next big role.

Training With High-Impact: Learning Paths

All effective training programs should provide structured learning paths to all employees, from entry-level to senior leaders. Learning paths include mentors, on-demand learning libraries, self-paced learning opportunities and on-the-job growth opportunities.

The leadership training program should be a continuous learning journey that includes soft skills training in core competencies, like critical thinking, communication and time management. It’s also important that the training is specific to the employee’s skill set, encompassing their unique needs and career path. If any hard skills training is needed, see that it’s provided in a timely manner.

Providing self-directed microlearning allows learners to identify their skills gaps, form their own goals and develop their own learning strategy. They can oversee their own careers. And self-directed learning allows them to learn whenever or wherever they want. Microlearning provides the opportunity to work in 10-12 minute lessons within their workday.

Put Training Into Practice

Skills must not only be taught but practiced. Create opportunities to allow learners to practice their soft skills in meetings and company initiatives. Empower employees to lead meetings, organize a team-building event or facilitate a PowerPoint presentation to pitch a new idea. This allows employees to see what leadership entails and build confidence. Furthermore, it gives leaders an opportunity to provide feedback.

Let employees solve problems on their own. That means finding and acting upon the solutions. Have employees pair up on projects so they learn the importance of collaboration and avoid working in a silo.

Be Transparent

Let all employees know why they are being offered ongoing learning and development. If the organization is committed to promoting from within, ongoing training shows entry-level employees a clear development path within the organization that fosters loyalty and commitment to success.

Career growth opportunities will prepare them for future roles and ensure they have the skills needed for each stage of their career.  When employees know there is room for advancement, they’ll most likely not look elsewhere. Human resources (HR) and L&D leaders as well as managers must make a conscious effort to stress the importance of upskilling to advance within the company — and to let employees know that the company fully supports making time for L&D.

Be sure to convey that the organization values their talent and cares about their future not only in words but in actions. Build confidence by offering compliments for a job well done. Showing appreciation and recognition keeps employees motivated and engaged.

With these elements in mind, you should be able to put together a good plan for both succession and progression for your employees.