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Succession Planning helps editors identify and prepare potential successors for critical roles within the organization.
When an employee is added to the Succession Planning process, their default editor becomes responsible for creating and maintaining the succession plan for that role.
This guide explains how to create a succession plan for an employee's role. Depending on your organization's settings, the person responsible for creating and maintaining the plan may be a manager or another designated editor.
Accessing a Succession Plan
Once an employee has been assigned to Succession Planning, their editor can access the succession plan in one of two ways:
Option 1: Through a Notification
When a succession planning task is assigned to you, you'll receive a notification in Teamflect.
Simply click the notification to open the succession plan directly.
Option 2: Through the Employee Profile
You can also access a succession plan through the employee's profile by navigating to the Succession Plan section and opening the plan.
Reviewing the Role Summary
When you open a succession plan, you will first see the Role Summary page.
The Role Summary provides key information about the employee's current role, helping you better understand the position before identifying successor candidates.
Here, you can review information such as:
Employee details
Current role information
Role description
Skills and competencies associated with the role
Once you have reviewed the role information, click Next to proceed to successor selection.
Selecting Successors
After reviewing the role information, you can begin identifying potential successors for the role.
Teamflect will suggest employees who may be suitable successor candidates based on the available employee data. You can review these suggestions and add candidates to the succession plan.
If you would like to consider additional employees, you can use the search bar to find and add successor candidates manually.
Depending on your organization's Succession Planning settings, you may also be able to request successor suggestions from the employee who currently holds the role.
To request suggestions:
Click Request Suggestions in the top-right corner.
Optionally, add a note to provide additional context or guidance.
Click Send Request.
Note: Once submitted, employee suggestions will appear on this page for review. Suggested successors are not automatically added to the succession plan.
Once you have selected your successor candidates, click Next to proceed to the evaluation stage.
Evaluating Successors
The evaluation stage helps you assess each successor candidate’s readiness for the role.
In this stage, you can first view any existing 9-Box evaluations for all selected candidates in a consolidated view. This allows you to quickly understand their overall performance and potential before starting individual assessments.
After reviewing the 9-Box overview, you can evaluate each candidate individually by:
Selecting a readiness level
Rating competencies relevant to the role
Adding comments and notes
Marking a candidate as Preferred, if they are a strong fit for the role
Note: If successor suggestions were requested from the current employee, any competencies ratings and comments they provided for their suggested candidates will also be visible in this stage. These inputs can be reviewed and, if needed, edited or adjusted during the evaluation process.
You can also click Compare potential successors in the top-right corner. This will generate an AI-powered comparison based on the entered evaluation data, helping you evaluate candidates side by side more easily.
After completing all fields, click Create to generate the succession plan.
Beneficial Use Cases
Leadership Pipeline Planning
Use succession planning to continuously identify high-potential employees and prepare them for future leadership roles. This helps ensure that your organization always has a strong and ready leadership pipeline.Critical Role Risk Mitigation
Reduce the risk of disruption in key positions by proactively identifying suitable successors. This ensures business continuity even in cases of unexpected departures or role changes.Data-Driven Talent Decisions
Make more objective succession decisions by combining 9-Box evaluations, competency ratings, and manager notes. This structured approach helps reduce bias and improve consistency across evaluations.Targeted Employee Development
Identify specific skill gaps during the evaluation process and use them to guide employee development. This allows organizations to better prepare candidates for future responsibilities.Internal Mobility & Growth
Encourage internal career progression by identifying employees who are ready—or nearly ready—for new roles. This increases retention while strengthening internal talent mobility.Cross-Team Talent Comparison
Compare successor candidates across different teams using standardized evaluation criteria. This helps ensure fair and consistent assessment when selecting the most suitable candidates.AI-Powered Succession Insights
Leverage the “Compare potential successors” feature to generate AI-driven comparisons based on entered data. This helps managers quickly understand differences between candidates and make more informed decisions.Emergency Readiness Planning
Maintain a shortlist of preferred successors who can step in when needed. This ensures your organization is prepared for urgent or unexpected role transitions.