Succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization and developing action plans to ensure your business will continue to have the talent needed to fill those roles. It’s not about pre-
selection, but rather preparation; generally, HR teams will take the lead on identifying jobs, skills, and potential competency gaps and designing
initiatives to prepare the next generation to step into leadership roles. Succession planning is critical for future-proofing your workforce,
as it ensures that your organization will have the right talent in the
right places, not just now, but for years to come.

Succession planning starts with creating a clear vision for your company’s
future. Leaders need to come together to identify how they see the business progressing, both in the short and long term. Decisions need to be made
about which positions are integral for your company’s success and what roles your  organization cannot survive without. Once these high-priority functions
are identified, the next step is building a talent pipeline that your business
will be able to rely on for the future.  In the past, succession planning decisions have often been influenced by external factors, such as personal connections or preconceived notions about what the best fit for a role “should” look like. However, AI-powered talent marketplaces can
take bias out of the equation by identifying employees from across
the organization who have the skills and experience needed to step
into crucial roles. It’s important to remember that succession planning
isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process. To make the most of it,
all employees should have ongoing access to professional development resources, including both learning curriculums and hands-on experience
that gives everyone the chance to put these lessons into practice. 

Succession planning is an essential process if you want to future-proof your workforce and ensure talent continuity. If leaders fail to think strategically
about the challenges and business priorities that they are going to face
in the future, there’s a real risk that they won’t have employees with the
skills needed to support their organization in its next chapter.
Succession planning provides organizations with actionable steps
that they can take to make sure they have the talent needed to
outpace their competition not just now, but for years to come.

Organizations that prioritize succession planning will reap a variety
of pay-offs, including:

• Reduced organizational risk:
  COVID-19 served as a powerful reminder that every organization needs to
  be able to adapt to change. While some events (like a global pandemic)
  may be hard to predict, businesses know that their leadership will retire someday. Succession planning gives every organization an opportunity
  to prepare for change so they can respond quickly and minimize risk.
• Fewer financial resources will be devoted to external hiring:
  When there’s no continuity plan in place, talent acquisition teams will most
  likely need to look outside of the organization to fill critical roles. Finding
  the right candidate for a high-priority role is challenging, particularly in today’s war for talent, which means your organization will likely need to devote plenty of time and money during your applicant search. In contrast, succession planning enables businesses to grow best-fit candidates from within their organization, minimizing both external hiring fees and the length of time it takes to find a superior applicant.
• Boost employee engagement and morale:
  If you want to motivate and retain your workforce, you need to show
  them that their future with your company is bright. Deloitte research
  found that employees believe it is 2.5 times easier to access opportunities
  outside of their organization than it is within their company. With
  succession planning, you can demonstrate that your people have
  plenty of potential to grow with your business, in turn encouraging
  them to strive towards achieving their fullest potential.
• Increase DE&I efforts:
  New strategies for succession planning represent a meaningful
  win for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Decisions about
  who’s going to fill leadership roles in the future will no longer be
  dictated by an employee’s personal connections or the names on
  their resume; instead, an AI-powered approach will identify best-fit candidates from across your organization to democratize access
  to opportunity.

Succession planning starts by bringing your organization together to create a shared vision for your future. This requires cross-functional collaboration and input from stakeholders who are supporting every function of the business. Rather than relying on traditional succession planning tactics that may have prioritized and uplifted a small subsect of your workforce, organizations can
now harness two-sided, AI-powered talent marketplaces to
identify the next generation of leaders from across their company
and give everyone the opportunity to build the skills they need to
lead your business into the future.