The perceived barriers to effective succession planning may be less challenging than many managers believe and can be accomplished with little or no direct funding, a few staff hours and two or three days of meetings as well as following five basic steps, the Partnership for Public Service has said.
PPS recommends that managers begin by listing critical positions and projecting the risk of vacancies.
Managers should then discuss future needs, taking into consideration future functions and activities as well as factors that might affect how the team achieves results.
As a third step, managers should determine where the existing talent pool is lacking and develop a strong core of future leaders who can step up when the need arises without disrupting operations and services.
PPS recommends developing strategies to close talent gaps through developmental assignments, cross training, job rotations and short-term transfers to other units or agencies.
Finally, managers should evaluate progress and revisit succession plans each year, and update them every six to 12 months or in response to events such as the loss of key personnel.
