How to succession plan

Create a plan which outlines the skills and abilities you'll need from future leaders.

What is succession planning?

Succession planning allows you to develop the leaders you need tomorrow, today.

It’s a process of developing employees who can be future leaders and managers. In time, these “budding stars” will step into big roles once your current leaders have gone.

Through upskilling, you prepare your budding stars to slot into these positions. You can send talented employees on courses to help them learn relevant new skills.

Although, many businesses find success by pairing budding stars with the experienced figures they’re on course to replace. This can be done as a work experience block or by shadowing.

Get started with our guide to succession planning

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Skills Development Scotland's top tips to pull together a great succession plan

Bring your team along with you. Tell your employees you're making a succession plan and talk them through it.
Identify your budding stars. Unlock their potential by giving them projects in different teams to gain experience. Think about what positions they could step up and fill.
Use our Skills Discovery tool to see how well your current roles match up to the skills you’ll need.
Communicate your plan to senior workers. Then ask them to share their knowledge and experience.
Come up with a strategy for upskilling and reskilling employees.

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