Succession planning is a process of identifying and developing individuals to fill key roles and positions when current incumbents leave due to retirement, resignation, or other reasons. It involves proactively identifying and nurturing talent to ensure a smooth transition of leadership and critical functions.
Benefits of a Succession Plan
Some of the benefits of succession planning are that:
It provides
- Minimises disturbance to activities.
- Recognition and reward for long serving volunteers as they become mentors to new volunteers and can share their knowledge.
- A clear plan for volunteer progression and replacement so you do not have to do it in the middle of a crisis.
It Encourages
- Identify critical roles, skills required to carry out these roles and potential volunteers who possess these skills.
- Think about what skills/knowledge/volunteers they may need in the future and to begin planning for this.
- Assess what knowledge, skill and expertise gaps exist.
- Examine and assess the current makeup of their volunteers which leads to more thoughtful recruitment and can create a more diverse volunteer base.
- The development and retention of talented volunteers in the long-term.
- Information sharing and record keeping which avoids the loss of critical information (such as member databases, networks, event timetables etc) when key volunteers move on.
- Ongoing review and evaluation which ultimately improves the overall management.
It Improves
- The recruitment process for key positions which could lead to volunteers being more engaged in their roles because they are more appropriately suited to the position.
- Volunteer access to training and development opportunity.
- The leadership qualities of volunteers.
- The morale and commitment of volunteers.
It also
- Minimises volunteer burnout because volunteers are not ‘stuck’ in the same role forever without anyone to take over from them.
- Motivates volunteers because they can see a pathway of development and progression and they feel more nurtured.
- Creates opportunity for young people to get more involved in decision-making, take on more responsibility and become more connected.
Challenges
There are several pitfalls when trying to develop a succession plan. Most can be avoided easily. These challenges will vary depending on the specific needs and characteristics. Below is a list of common obstacles organisations face:
You might face difficulty in succession planning if:
- Your succession plan involves too much administration and creates too much work for volunteers;
- Stuck on traditional views about who can hold key positions and don’t consider alternatives (for example, young people);
- Not all Board/Committee members are committed to the idea of succession planning and don’t understand the benefits, which leads to a superficial approach;
- Recruitment and appointment of volunteers to key positions is not transparent (i.e. clearly outlined/documented and communicated) and therefore becomes political;
- Personalities, egos or individual needs get in the way of decision-making;
- Poor record keeping, resulting in a succession plan that is not clear or well documented and that volunteers don’t know exists;
- Volunteer promotions are based on tenure instead of competency, skill or talent. Sometime, volunteers who have been involved a long time take on key positions without having the skill or knowledge to carry out the role successfully because committees feel they ‘deserve a go’.
- People are underestimated or left out because they do not the culture;
- Fails to provide adequate training and development to move into new positions;
- Has limited access to resources to invest in the succession planning process;
- Need to succession plan is not immediate, leading to lots of talk and not a lot of action;
- Fail to continually review and improve the succession plan; and/or
- Adopts a rigid and inflexible approach that is not tailored to specific needs of the club and individuals within it.
Successful Committee Succession Planning:
| Tip It is recommended to schedule succession planning meetings during the first meeting of the new committee after appointment of new positions, as well as in February or March each year. By doing so, you ensure that when the next nominations process takes place, your committee will already have succession planning underway. This helps to ensure a smooth transition of roles and responsibilities within the committee. |
It is important to proactively engage in succession planning, regularly reviewing and updating their strategies to ensure they align with goals and changing needs.
Placement on a succession plan is not a guarantee of future position – regular nomination processes will apply.
Download the Succession Planning Tool for a 1 page guide.
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