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Many organizations invest heavily in succession planning, yet surveys consistently show that these plans often become static grids of names that don’t meaningfully influence talent decisions or development. In this one-page cheat sheet, I highlight five signs that an organization’s succession plans may be “just names on a page” rather than practical, implementable plans. The cheat sheet includes sample indicators to help identify whether any of the five challenges exist, along with an example step to help address them. One challenge is that succession plans are updated only during formal succession planning cycles. When this happens, plans tend to reflect process calendars rather than current business realities, increasing the need for off-cycle updates. One way to address this is to define business trigger events, such as strategy shifts, organizational restructuring, or significant changes in company size or scale, that would prompt a reevaluation of succession plans. To support this, I am resharing another one of my cheat sheets that outlines nine sample trigger events that prompt an off-cycle reevaluation of succession plans. Use the five-signs succession planning cheat sheet to facilitate discussion, assess whether any of these challenges exist, and identify practical action steps to address them. Even addressing just one of these challenges can make succession plans more relevant.
