How can you create a succession plan?

How can you create a succession plan?

• A. Define roles to fill
• B. Add potential successors, assign pools, set replacement charts, and link with development plans
• C. Define roles to fill and publish to stakeholders
• D. Delete all existing succession plans

Answer: (B)

Creating a succession plan means building a structured pipeline that links critical roles, potential successors, and development. To do this well, you identify the roles that must be filled in the future, gather and organize people who could step into those roles, assign them to pools or replacement charts that show who could succeed where, and connect each potential successor to development plans that address any gaps. This combination turns a list of roles into a ready-to-execute plan with people and growth trajectories, so leadership transitions can happen smoothly when the time comes. Publishing the plan to stakeholders alone doesn’t establish the ongoing structure or track readiness, and deleting existing plans eliminates the very mechanism that ensures continuity. Defining roles without linking people or development misses the point of having a plan, since there’s no way to know who’s prepared or what needs to be done to prepare them.

Creating a succession plan means building a structured pipeline that links critical roles, potential successors, and development. To do this well, you identify the roles that must be filled in the future, gather and organize people who could step into those roles, assign them to pools or replacement charts that show who could succeed where, and connect each potential successor to development plans that address any gaps. This combination turns a list of roles into a ready-to-execute plan with people and growth trajectories, so leadership transitions can happen smoothly when the time comes.

Publishing the plan to stakeholders alone doesn’t establish the ongoing structure or track readiness, and deleting existing plans eliminates the very mechanism that ensures continuity. Defining roles without linking people or development misses the point of having a plan, since there’s no way to know who’s prepared or what needs to be done to prepare them.