Career and Succession Planning Resources

Effective career and succession planning relies on accurate, current information across several dimensions:

• Role Definitions and Capability Requirements – A clear understanding of what is required to succeed in each key role.
• Staff Capability Profiles – A current view of each employee’s demonstrated competencies, qualifications, experience, and development history.
• Performance Records – Objective data showing achievements aligned to role expectations.
• Development Progress – Visibility into individual learning and growth.
• Career Aspirations – Employee input on interests and goals, collected through conversations or self-reflection tools.
• Organizational Needs and Risk Areas – Roles that are critical, hard to fill, or vulnerable to turnover.

This foundation enables objective, inclusive, and data-driven career and succession strategies.

Career development is the structured, ongoing process of building individual capabilities to support both personal growth and organizational needs.

Key Challenges:

• Lack of clarity around required capabilities and career options
• Uneven access to development opportunities
• Unrealistic expectations from employees or managers
• Disconnected efforts from broader workforce plans

Who Should Be Involved:

• Employees: Active participants in setting goals and tracking progress
• Managers: Coaches and facilitators of growth, not just evaluators
• HR and L&D: Providers of tools, visibility, and governance
• Executives: Sponsors of capability-focused development, not just training spend

When to Do It:

• Regularly during performance cycles
• During onboarding or internal transitions
• After role changes or capability reviews

Best Practices:

• Link to actual competency gaps
• Incorporate employee aspirations
• Use structured tools and defined frameworks
• Track progress over time, not one-off interventions

Technology Support:

• Digital development plans linked to role capability profiles
• AI-driven learning resource recommendations
• Capability-based tracking of development outcomes

Effective succession planning begins by identifying individuals with the potential and aspiration to take on greater responsibility.

This should not rely solely on past performance or manager opinion, but be grounded in:

• Capability and competency data
• Evidence of learning agility and goal alignment
• Readiness assessments across defined criteria
• Multi-source input (including self, peer, and 360 feedback)
• Transparent criteria help avoid bias, and support both equity and accuracy.

Succession planning should target key positions — those critical to business continuity, leadership, innovation, or compliance.

Key steps:

• Identify critical roles and potential risk (vacancy, loss, retirement)
• Define success profiles for each key role
• Use structured assessments to match potential successors
• Track readiness and development needs

Position-based planning ensures the organization can maintain operational strength and adapt to future challenges.