Succession Planning Checklist
Do you think your organization has Succession Planning under control? Double check with SIGMA’s Succession Planning Checklist. This checklist is a quick measure of the maturity level of your organization’s Succession Plan and what areas need to be improved.
Business Succession Planning Checklist
Succession planning is an ongoing process that helps your company prepare for the future. However, given this long-term focus, it can be difficult to tell in the moment if your succession plan is having its intended effects. This can also mean that it’s difficult to spot when things are going wrong until much later in the process.
At Sigma, we designed a quick tool to help you determine the maturity of your succession plan. In today’s video, we’ll walk through how to use our succession planning checklist to evaluate your succession plan and ensure your company stays on track.
Executive Support for the Succession Plan
The first thing you need to ask yourself when evaluating your succession plan is whether or not you have executive support. This support is critical. As we know, the number one reason succession plans fail is the lack of interest or endorsement from leadership. Consider both your CEO and your leadership team when assessing the executive support for your succession plan.
Proven Succession Process
Next, think about your process. Do you use a proven succession process that you can be confident in? And is it easy for you to understand and communicate this process to others?
Communication About Your Succession Plan
On the topic of communication, think about how your plans can be shared with the organization. Is your process transparent to all levels of the organization or is it only for your executive team? And are formal developmental conversations between leaders and candidates built into your plan?
Documenting your Succession Plan
Next, we can consider how formally your succession plan is documented. Is there something for the leadership team to review annually? And does your company make regular updates to your succession process?
Accountability for Your Succession Plan
Once you’ve considered the nuts and bolts of your succession plan, it’s time to think about the implementation. How are people held accountable to your succession plan? Do you create timelines and goals for your leaders and your candidates to meet? Because without these milestones, it can be easy for succession planning to be put on the back burner.
How Succession Planning is Positioned within Your Organization
Finally, we should think about how succession planning is positioned within your company. Does it align with the strategic plan of your organization? Does it plan for all critical roles or does it only focus on your CEO? A functional succession plan is built to keep the future in mind at every step of the process.
If you’re left wondering how your succession plan measures up, you can download our succession planning checklist at sigmasuccession.com. If you’re left thinking your plan doesn’t meet many of these requirements, or that your company doesn’t have a plan at all, check out our Launch Series where we create a custom succession plan to meet your company’s needs in just 30 days.
Get Executive Support
When evaluating your succession plan, the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether you have executive support. Executive support is critical for an effective succession planning process. As we know, the number one reason these plans fail is the lack of interest or endorsement from senior leadership. Consider both your CEO and your leadership team when assessing the executive support for your plan. Answer the following questions:
- Is your Succession Planning initiative supported by your CEO?
- Is Succession supported by the entire leadership team?
Evaluate Your Succession Planning Process
Next, think about your current succession planning process. Do you use a proven process that you can be confident in? And is it easy for you to understand and communicate this process to others?
Provide Internal Communication About Succession
Once you have a succession plan in place, be sure to communicate the plan with the organization. Think about whether your process is transparent at all levels, or if it is only accessible to your executive team. Ask yourself whether you are you clearly communicating the succession plan to:
- all members of the organization
- management
- individual succession candidates
In addition to communicating the plan, team leaders must also be prepared to have formal conversations with succession candidates. Ensure leaders are ready to have candid discussions with their team regarding each succession candidate’s readiness for the role. It is important that leadership has the right tools to support development discussions with their successors.
Create Formal Succession Documentation
Next, consider how formally your succession plan is documented. Is there something for the leadership team to review annually? And does your company make regular updates to your succession process? Does your Succession Plan include:
- Detailed Success Profiles for each key position
- Populated Succession Benches for each leadership profile?
- Candidate Profiles for each succession candidate?
- Talent Development Plans for each succession candidate?
- Documented metrics to gauge the success of your plan?
Hold Your Team Accountable to Your Succession Plan
Once you’ve considered the nuts and bolts of your succession plan, it’s time to think about the implementation. How are people held accountable to your succession plan? Do you create timelines and goals for your leaders and your internal or external candidates to meet? Do you have a scheduled annual review that includes your entire leadership team? Because without these milestones, it can be easy for succession planning to be put on the back burner.
Future-Proof Your Succession Plan
Finally, we should think about how succession planning is positioned within your company. Does it align with the strategic plan of your organization? Does it plan for all critical roles or does it only focus on your CEO? A functional plan is built to keep the future in mind at every step of the process. Consider the following when evaluating the maturity of your succession plan:
- Are recruitment, hiring, and talent development aligned with your succession plan?
- Have the Success Profiles been built with the future in mind?
- Are you focused on developing a pipeline of talent for each critical position vs. identifying one successor?
Evaluate the Maturity of Your Succession Plan with SIGMA
Regardless of your score above, SIGMA’s Succession Planning Launch can help. With just two separate half-day workshops, SIGMA’s Succession Planning Launch Series delivers a comprehensive full-year implementation plan customized for each member of your executive team. Contact us to find out more.