How to Create a Succession Plan (2027): 8 Steps

What is a succession plan, and why does it matter in 2027?#

It matters because leadership benches are thin. Industry research consistently reports that only a minority of organisations feel they have a strong bench ready to step up, and in 2027, faster turnover and retirements make an unplanned senior gap both likely and costly.

Succession planning is where leadership development and talent strategy meet. See how to develop leadership skills for the development engine behind it.

How to create a succession plan: 8 steps#

1. Identify critical roles

Start with the roles whose sudden absence would hurt most, not just the top of the org chart. Critical can mean strategic, hard to replace, or single points of failure deep in the business.

Try this

• Example: Include the lead engineer who is the only one who understands billing, not just the VP.
• Rate each role on impact if vacant and difficulty to replace.
• Flag single points of failure, roles only one person can do today.

2. Define the success profile for each role

Describe what great looks like in each critical role: the competencies, experience and behaviours it demands, so you assess candidates against a real bar, not a job title.

Try this

• Example: For a sales director role, name the competencies (forecasting, coaching, enterprise deals) and the experience it needs.
• Base the profile on what success looks like next, not the incumbent's CV.
• Keep profiles short enough to assess people against them.

3. Assess talent on performance and potential

Evaluate people on both current performance and future potential, often with a nine-box grid. High performance alone does not make a successor; potential to grow into a bigger role does.

Try this

• Example: Place people on a nine-box grid using current performance and future potential.
• Separate "great at today's job" from "could grow into a bigger one."
• Calibrate ratings across managers so potential is judged consistently.

4. Identify successors and their gaps

For each critical role, name potential successors and classify readiness: ready now, ready in one to two years, or ready later, with the specific gaps that stand between them and the role.

Try this

• Example: For each critical role, name successors as ready now, in 1 to 2 years, or later, with the gap for each.
• Avoid single-successor plans; aim for two or more per critical role.
• Write the specific gap, e.g. "no P&L experience," next to each name.

5. Build development plans for successors

Close those gaps deliberately with stretch assignments, mentoring and targeted learning. A name on a chart with no development plan is a wish, not a plan. Use competency mapping to structure the gaps.

Try this

• Example: Give a "ready in 1 to 2 years" successor a stretch project that builds the missing P&L experience.
• Pair each successor with a mentor already in the target role.
• Review each plan on the same rhythm as the succession review.

6. Plan emergency and interim cover

For every critical role, know who covers it tomorrow if the person leaves today, even if that interim cover is not the long-term successor. This is the difference between a plan and a scramble.

Try this

• Example: Name who runs the team tomorrow if the manager resigns today, even if it is interim.
• Document where key knowledge and access live for each critical role.
• Keep the emergency list separate from the long-term successor list.

7. Review readiness on a regular rhythm

Treat succession as a living process: review the plan at least twice a year, update readiness as people develop or move, and keep the conversation on the leadership agenda.

Try this

• Example: Put a succession review on the calendar twice a year with the leadership team.
• Update readiness as people complete development or change roles.
• Revisit the critical-role list when the strategy or org changes.

8. Measure coverage and bench strength

Track how many critical roles have a ready-now or near-ready successor. That coverage figure, not the existence of a document, tells you whether succession planning is actually working.

Try this

• Example: Track the percentage of critical roles with a ready-now or near-ready successor.
• Report bench strength to the board alongside the plan itself.
• Watch the trend over time, not a single snapshot.

How does succession planning differ by company size, industry and use case?#

The eight steps hold everywhere, but depth scales with context.

By company size

• Startup / SMB (1-200 employees): focus on the few roles that would hurt most, plus emergency cover, not a full nine-box.
• Mid-market (200-1,000 employees): build your first structured bench for critical and leadership roles.
• Enterprise (1,000+ employees): run multi-tier succession with nine-box, readiness scoring and analytics.

By industry

• Manufacturing: plan cover for specialised technical and plant-leadership roles.
• Healthcare: succession for clinical leadership with credentialing built in.
• Family or founder-led business: plan ownership and leadership transition deliberately.
• Professional services: protect key client relationships held by individuals.

By use case

• Emergency cover: who runs a critical role tomorrow if someone leaves today.
• Leadership pipeline: develop successors for senior roles over years.
• Key-person risk: remove single points of failure in specialist roles.
• Retirement planning: prepare for known, dated departures.

Best practices for durable succession planning#

• Base it on critical roles, not hierarchy
• Assess potential, not just performance
• Pair every successor with a development plan
• Always have interim cover
• Review readiness at least twice a year
• Measure coverage, and keep plans confidential but real

What are the most common succession planning mistakes?#

1. Planning only the C-suite and ignoring critical roles deeper down.
2. Confusing a top performer with a ready successor.
3. Naming successors without developing them.
4. Writing the plan once and never reviewing it.
5. No emergency cover, so a sudden exit becomes a crisis.

Succession plan template and readiness grid#

Use a simple readiness view to turn names into a real pipeline picture.

Succession planning checklist

• Critical roles identified
• Success profile per role
• Talent assessed on performance and potential
• Successors named with readiness levels
• Development plans for each successor
• Emergency cover defined
• Review cadence set (twice yearly)
• Coverage and bench strength tracked

Get the full, editable version in PDF, Word and Excel: Succession Planning Template, or the Career Path Map Template.

How do you measure succession planning and ROI?#

For ROI, weigh the cost of developing successors against the cost of an unplanned external hire for a critical role: the delay, the premium, the lost momentum, and the risk of a poor fit. A strong bench is almost always cheaper than the scramble it prevents.

How Disprz helps#

Succession planning fails at the development step, and development is where Disprz lives. It gives you skills and competency frameworks to assess against, individual development plans to close successor gaps, and a live readiness view so coverage stays current between reviews.

• Competency assessment by role
• Development plans for successors
• Live readiness and coverage view
• Skills analytics across the pipeline

Related reading: how to develop leadership skills, career mobility, and identify skill gaps.