Succession Planning - A 5 Step Process

Step 1:  Identify critical positions

Critical positions are the focus of succession planning efforts.  Without these roles, the department or
agency would be unable to effectively meet its business objectives.  Workforce projection data or
demographic analysis is essential in identifying risk areas.  A risk assessment may also be conducted and
compared to current and future vacancies to identify critical positions within your organization.  

Step 2:  Identify competencies ( Competency Mapping)

A clear understanding of capabilities needed for successful performance in key areas and critical
positions is essential for guiding learning and development plans, setting clear performance expectations,
and for assessing performance. By completing the process of competency or position profiling within your
organization, current and future employees gain an understanding of the key responsibilities of the
position including the qualifications and behavioral and technical competencies required to perform them
successfully. 

Step 3:  Identify succession management strategies

Now that critical positions have been identified and have been profiled for competencies, the next step is
to choose from a menu of several human resource strategies, including developing internal talent pools,
onboarding and recruitment to address succession planning.  

Step 4: Document and implement succession plans

Once strategies have been identified, the next step is to document the strategies in an action plan.  The
Succession Planning: Action Plan provides a mechanism for clearly defining timelines and roles and
responsibilities.    

Step 5:  Evaluate Effectiveness

To ensure that the department or agency’s succession planning efforts are successful, it is important to
systematically monitor workforce data, evaluate activities and make necessary adjustments. 
 Competency Mapping Steps

Competency Mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for an

organization and/or a job and incorporating those competencies throughout the
various processes (i.e. job evaluation, training, recruitment) of the organization.
A competency is defined as a behavior (i.e. communication, leadership) rather
than a skill or ability.

The steps involved in competency mapping with an end result of job evaluation
include the following:

1. Conduct a job analysis by asking incumbents to complete a position

information questionnaire (PIQ). The PIQ can be provided for incumbents to
complete, or you can conduct one-on-one interviews using the PIQ as a
guide. The primary goal is to gather from incumbents what they feel are the
key behaviors necessary to perform their respective jobs.

2. Using the results of the job analysis, you are ready to develop a
competency based job description. This is developed by carefully analyzing
the input from the represented group of incumbents and converting it to
standard competencies.

3. With a competency based job description, you are on your way to

begin mapping the competencies throughout your HR processes. The
competencies of the respective job description become your factors for
assessment on the performance evaluation. Using competencies will help
guide you to perform more objective evaluations based on displayed or not
displayed behaviors.

4. Taking the competency mapping one step further, you can use the results
of your evaluation to identify in what competencies individuals need
additional development or training. This will help you focus your training
needs on the goals of the position and company and help your employees
develop toward the ultimate success of the organization.

To help you with the implementation of these steps and to learn more about
competency mapping, we recommend further reading the following resources:
 Job
Description
Collection

Identify Job Analysis

Succession
Management (1-1 session)

Identify
Develope
Factors of
Competency
Performance
Based JD
Management