Succession Planning Worksheets

New England Federation of Human SocietiesAnnual Conference

April 9, 2016

Exercise 1: Outline Your Organization’s Strategic Planning Process

Organization Name:
Vision and/or Mission:
Priorities and/or Goals:
Annual Process (or other timing if relevant):
How Might Succession Planning Fit Within Process: / Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4

Exercise 2: Your Rationale for Succession Planning & How you Might Overcome Barriers

What's your rationale for succession planning within your organization?
You might want to think about this through the lens of the knowledge, skills, and abilities you need to have on your team now and in the future.
What barriers have you or will you facein implementing succession planning? How have you or will you overcome them?

Exercise 3: Identifying Top Talent and Critical Positions

Who are your toptalent?
If this person left you’d have a significant gap in knowledge or skills.
What are your most critical positions?
If this position is left unfilled, it creates strategic and operational risk to your mission.

Exercise 4: Discussing Your Top Talent

Top Talent Name: / Fill In What You Know:
  • What are their key strengths and opportunities?
  • What are their career interests (short and long-term, if known)?
  • What roles could they be a good fit for?
  • What reasons would they have for leaving?
  • What next steps should we take?

Name: / Key Strengths & Opportunities: / Career Interests: / Roles they could be a fit for: / Reasons they would leave: / Next Steps:
Name: / Key Strengths & Opportunities: / Career Interests: / Roles they could be a fit for: / Reasons they would leave: / Next Steps:
Name: / Key Strengths & Opportunities: / Career Interests: / Roles they could be a fit for: / Reasons they would leave: / Next Steps:
Name: / Key Strengths & Opportunities: / Career Interests: / Roles they could be a fit for: / Reasons they would leave: / Next Steps:
Name: / Key Strengths & Opportunities: / Career Interests: / Roles they could be a fit for: / Reasons they would leave: / Next Steps:

Exercise 5: Discussing Your Critical Positions

Critical Position Title: / Fill In What You Know:
  • What is the potential for turnover in this role (Now, 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months, 12-24 months, 24+ months)?
  • Which people could be a good fit for this position?
  • When would they be ready (Now, 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months, 12-24 months, 24+months)?
  • What development is needed to ready each of these people for the position?
  • What next steps should we take (including external candidate exploration if necessary)?

Position Title: / Potential for Turnover: / Internal Candidates: / Readiness: / Development Needed: / Next Steps:
Position Title: / Potential for Turnover: / Internal Candidates: / Readiness: / Development Needed: / Next Steps:
Position Title: / Potential for Turnover: / Internal Candidates: / Readiness: / Development Needed: / Next Steps:
Position Title: / Potential for Turnover: / Internal Candidates: / Readiness: / Development Needed: / Next Steps:
Position Title: / Potential for Turnover: / Internal Candidates: / Readiness: / Development Needed: / Next Steps:

Individual Development Plan Template

Date:
Name:
Title:
Short Term Career Goals:
Identify 1-2 career goals that you’d like to achieve in the next 12 months
Long Term Career Goals:
Identify 1-2 career goals that you’d want to achieve over the next 3-5 years
Key Strengths:
Identify your 3-5 strongest knowledge, skills and/or abilities (KSAs)
Using performance review feedback
Opportunity Areas:
Identify 3-5 areas of knowledge, skills and/or abilities (KSAs) that you most need to develop
Using performance review feedback
Development Goals & Measures:
Identify 3-5 development goals and measures you and your manager can utilize to assess your progress / Goal: / KSA being Developed: / Action Steps: / Success Measures: / Target Completion Date:

2x2 Feedback Template

Feedback Form Date:
Staff Member Name: / Position:
Manager Name: / Position:

The 2x2 feedback form ensures that managers and staff members talk about how things are going in their work.

  • The manager and the staff member each fill out two things she/he is doing well and two things she/he could do better, as well as two things the other person is doing well and two things that could be better.
  • For the staff member, the focus is on her performance overall; for the manager, the focus is on her work with this staff member.

Ideally, 2x2 feedback is given on a regular basis, but this form could be utilized quarterly as a formal review of what’s happened over the last 3 months.

Feedback Items / Feedback Detail & Specific Examples / Next Steps to Strength and/or Improve
Two things I’m doing well[1] (staff member)
Two things I could do even better (staff member)
Two things you’re doing well (manager)
Two things you could do even better (manager)

Case Study #1: The Short-Term

Situation:

The Head of Development at your organization has just informed you (the Executive Director) that she is leaving the organization in 3 months to move cross-country. The exiting Head of Development has been with the organization for 10 years and underneath her is an organization of 5. Her direct reports are two: one who heads up individual donor stewardship and the other who manages grants and institutional donors. Each have had a record of strong performance over the last 3-5 years. There is also a very strong lower level coordinator on the team who many people believe is extremely talented, but you don’t know too much about. There haven’t been any formal succession plans created and so you are unsure if anyone on the team is interested and/or ready for this position. You don’t have an internal recruitment team, so if you decide to open the position externally, you think you’ll have a time-to-fill of approximately 3 months or longer.

Reflection Questions:

  • What steps can you take to determine how to fill this Head of Development position?
  • What challenges will you face as you figure out next steps?
  • How would you plan on being more proactive going forward?

Case Study #2: The Long-Term

Situation:

The Executive Director, who founded your organization 20 years ago has begun discussing the idea of retirement with you confidentially. He is involved in every aspect of the organization and has always had incredible insights across the organization. In particular, he’s integral to your community relationships, fundraising efforts, and is a huge motivator and champion for your people. You are the Director of Operations and as his second in command, need to help him address the reality of this situation. You are beginning to get worried about your inability to discuss plans with your Board as well as the organizational risk if this transition is unsuccessful.

Reflecting Questions:

  1. How do you build the case with the Executive Director that he should begin to engage in succession planning? What rationale will you utilize?
  2. What types of questions would you ask the Executive Director related to succession planning? What types of questions would you frame up for yourself and others?
  3. What are the high-level steps you will take to ensure succession planning begins?

Select References:

1

[1]If you’re a staff member, list two things you’re doing well in your work overall; if you’re a manager, two things you’re doing well in your work with this staff member.