Why is succession planning important?

Succession planning and good governance

Succession planning features as a key element of this Panel’s Governance Wheel in terms of both developing and maintaining effective boards. It can reduce the risk of losing key skills, knowledge and experience on boards in the form of individuals that hold specific knowledge or organisational ‘memory’, as well as professional or key industry related skills and experience.  

Succession planning can help: 

• To foster member, employee and other stakeholder confidence in the organisation as it helps demonstrate that it is being properly led.
• The organisation withstand emergency scenarios where a director or senior leader is lost or absent at short notice without the fear of continuity being impacted.

In the context of board positions, succession planning can help future‑proof boards and protect them from disruption caused by large numbers of directors or key individuals leaving the board, with no or little handover planning having taken place.

It involves sustaining the correct skills and experience required on boards as well as ensuring that large amounts of change in board membership over a short period of time are avoided so to safeguard against disruption and loss of/gaps in knowledge and to help facilitate diversity on boards.

In the context of senior leaders who are employees, succession planning can be a useful mechanism by which to develop and progress existing individuals already working within a co‑operative so that when vacancies arise, there is the potential for existing colleagues to be able to fulfil those roles.