6 STEPS

to creating a winning talent

pool based succession
planning process

Succession planning: Talent pool:

building deep bench strength throughout a group of high-performing,
the organization so that, whenever a high-potential employees
vacancy occurs, the organization has who are being developed to
many qualified internal candidates who assume greater responsibility
can be considered for the position. in a particular area.

Identify staffing needs

1
Look at your strategic plan. Which
positions are critical to your
organization’s long-term success?
Don’t forget customer-facing, technical or other
roles that demand a specific skillset, experience or
knowledge that cannot be easily replaced.

Consider the strategic direction of your

product or service. Where is there
demand for knowledge, skills and
abilities? What will demand be 5 years
from now?

In terms of capacity, how many roles do

you need to fill now and in the future?

2 Create talent pools

Based on staffing needs, what types of

talent pools do you require?
e.g. CFO, emerging leaders, technical specialists,
managers

Create a talent pool competency list:

what knowledge, skills and experience
are required for success?

What type of learning and development

is required to develop talent pool
members on identified competencies?
e.g. on the job learning, mentorship, courses,
cross-functional teams or working groups, etc

3
Identify talent pool
candidates Evaluate your current employees
to identify talent pool candidates.
Who are your high potentials?
High performers?
Consider performance data, referrals, career planning
discussions, past work experience. Also: potential for
promotion and retention risk.

Assign employees to appropriate talent pools

Before accepting a candidate, ask if they’re

willing to be part of the talent pool.
Ask: What are your long-term career plans? What
are you passionate about? What other parts of
the business would you be willing to explore?

4 Develop your
talent pools
Create individual development
plans for talent pool members.

Create a continuous loop of development

and assessment against talent pool
competencies.

Meet regularly with talent pool members

Ask: Is this talent pool still a good fit for you?
Is this the right career path for you?

5
Hire from talent pools
When a new position is created or one
becomes vacant, the first place you look to fill
the opening is the relevant talent pool.

Create an onboarding program to

ensure the talent pool member is
successful in their new role.
e.g. Assign the new hire a mentor
to help them be successful.

6
Evaluate your succession
management process

With every performance assessment, evaluate the

talent pool membership.
Ask: Are talent pool members meeting competency
expectations? If not, provide further development to improve
performance or remove them from the talent pool entirely.

Regularly assess your talent pool definitions,

competencies, and development plans.
Ask: Is the talent pool effective in developing
successors for key roles?

© 2014 Halogen Software Inc. All rights reserved.