Building a succession plan can seem like a formidable task—but it doesn't have to be.

There are four key steps to the process: pinpointing future leadership gaps, identifying top talent, customizing high-potential development, and personalizing onboarding for internal hires.

Still seem daunting? This toolkit includes easy-to-use resources to help you execute on each step and lay the foundation for your organization's succession plan.

Download the toolkit

Succession management is more "doable" than you may think

Conventional wisdom is right: succession plans are important. All organizations aspire to have seamless transitions whenever a key leader departs—be it planned or unplanned.

For HR leaders, the challenge is translating this broad aspiration into actual practice. And it can be especially daunting for health care HR leaders, who often look at the highly resource-intensive succession management programs in corporate America and see no way to translate them into health care.

Four key counterintuitive insights

The goal of this toolkit is to simplify and demystify succession planning for health care organizations. As stated, it's much more "doable" than is often thought—especially if you apply four counterintuitive insights to your succession planning efforts:

1. It's OK to start small. Start with a handful of succession plans and prove ROI with a small number of seamless transitions. Perhaps even more counterintuitively, when you are deciding which (small) number of positions you want to build succession plans for, don't make the decision based on title alone. Prioritize positions that would immediately impact daily operations if they are vacant for a day—for instance, the director of surgical services.
2. Performance reviews alone won't identify high-potential staff who should be considered for a "next-level" position. At most organizations, performance reviews are so inflated that a very high percentage of staff are rated "top talent."
3. Don't rely solely on supervisors to prepare top talent for their next-level role. All too often, supervisors don't have insight into the specific knowledge and experiences top-talent staff need to succeed in their next role—and even if they do, supervisors often lack the time and resources to create an effective development plan.
4. Create onboarding plans for internal promotions to critical roles. Many organizations overlook the fact that even internal candidates need support and feedback as they acclimate to a new role. A small investment in time and energy to provide internal promotions with clear milestones, support, and feedback will pay outsized returns in terms of ensuring new leaders succeed quickly in their roles.

12 tools to build strong succession plans

Pinpoint future leadership gaps
Get the biggest return on succession planning efforts by creating succession plans for a small number of positions. Prioritize those that have high retirement risk and high strategic importance. Read more.

Featured: Succession Intervention Evaluation Tool
Follow our step-by-step instructions to pinpoint jobs most vulnerable to retirements and determine which positions truly warrant formal succession planning. Get the instructions.

Identify top talent
Objectively identify staff who are ready for "next-level" positions, and who should be potentially included in succession plans. Read more.

• Leadership Potential Diagnostic
    Editable diagnostic
• Customized Potential Definition Tool
    Editable tool
• Hi-Po Calibration Discussion Guide

Customize high-potential development
Give direct supervisors tools to help them select the most impactful development opportunities for high-potential staff (and ensure they are gaining the skills they need to succeed in their next role.) Read more.

• Development Opportunity Match Cheat Sheet
    Editable cheat sheet
• Leader Experiences Identification Tool
    Editable tool

Personalize onboarding for internal hires
Create a customized onboarding plan that will give newly-promoted leaders the knowledge they need to succeed in their role. Read more.

• Personalized Onboarding Plan Instructions
• Sample Personalized Onboarding Plan
    Editable plan
• Team Intelligence Interview Guide
    Editable guide
• Onboarding Team Selection Criteria
• Onboarding Team Member Introductory Letter
    Editable letter
• Stakeholder Feedback Template
    Editable template