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HR Glossary

Succession planning

Culture and capability
What is succession planning?

Succession planning is identifying the roles your organisation cannot afford to leave empty, the people who could step into them, and what each of those people needs to be ready. It turns a resignation or retirement from a crisis into a handover.

How it works

Start with critical roles, not job titles: the positions where a vacancy would stop work, lose customers or create a safety or compliance gap. For each one, define the capabilities the role needs, then assess possible successors against them, often using a 9-box grid of performance and potential. Rate each successor's readiness (ready now, ready in one to two years, longer) and give them a development plan that closes the specific gaps.

Why most succession plans fail

The usual failure is a list of names in a spreadsheet, made once and never updated. Nobody told the successors, nobody built their capability, and when the role empties the "ready now" candidate turns out to be nowhere near it. The other failure is choosing successors on familiarity rather than evidence, which tends to clone the current incumbent and overlook people who would do the job differently and well.

Beyond the executive team

Succession planning is often treated as a board-level exercise for the CEO and direct reports. The roles that hurt most when they empty are frequently further down: the one person who knows the system, the site supervisor with the licences, the specialist nobody else can cover. A good plan covers those too.

Where
Compono Develop fits.

Compono Develop is a learning management system (LMS) that tracks what people need to be capable of, rather than what they completed.

See each successor's development plan, what they have finished and what is still to go, before the role opens up.

See how it works

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Learning management system (LMS)

A learning management system (LMS) is software that delivers training to employees, tracks who completed what and reports on it.

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9-box grid

The 9-box grid is a talent review tool that plots employees on two axes, current performance and future potential, each rated low, medium or high, producing nine cells that inform succession planning and development priorities.

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Skills matrix

A skills matrix is a grid mapping people against skills, with each cell recording proficiency (and often certification status and expiry).

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Competency framework

A competency framework is a structured definition of the skills, knowledge and behaviours an organisation requires, organised by role and proficiency level, so that hiring, development, assessment and progression all reference the same standard.

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All terms

Every definition, with the local rules, rates and thresholds attached.

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Common questions

What is the difference between succession planning and replacement planning?

Replacement planning names a backup for a role. Succession planning develops people so they are ready, and usually builds a pool of possible successors rather than a single name.

Should employees know they are successors?

Usually, yes. Development is hard to deliver in secret, and people who do not know they have a future in the organisation are more likely to look for one elsewhere. Be clear that being a successor is not a promise of the role.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the official source for your jurisdiction or your own adviser. Last reviewed October 2026.