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How to effectively utilize a succession plan in your organization?

Guide on setting up succession plans in Teamflect for smooth leadership transitions and continuity.

Written by Myka

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A well-structured succession plan helps organizations prepare for leadership transitions, reduce operational risk, and identify future talent for key positions. This guide explains how administrators can configure and manage Succession Planning in Teamflect.

Access the Succession Plan Settings:

Navigate to the Admin Center at https://admin.teamflect.com

Select the "Career" module from the left menu. Click on "Succession Plan."

Configure Succession Planning Settings

Before assigning employees to the succession planning process, review your organization's Succession Planning settings.


1. Allow Managers to Request Successor Suggestions

When enabled, managers can request successor suggestions from employees whose roles are being evaluated.


Employees can submit recommended successor candidates, which managers can review while building the succession plan.

Note: Successor suggestions are intended to support the planning process. Final successor selections are made by the manager.

2. Allow Employees to View Their Succession Plans

When enabled, employees can view active succession plans created for their role.

Employees will be able to review successor candidates, readiness evaluations, competency ratings, and manager comments in a read-only experience.


3. Enable "Enhance with AI" in Succession Plans

When enabled, users can leverage AI to draft, rewrite, and improve comments throughout the succession planning process.


AI-generated suggestions can help managers provide more detailed and constructive feedback during the succession planning process.

Managing Succession Plans

After configuring your Succession Planning settings, navigate to the Succession Plans tab.

Here, you can view all succession plans, create plans, monitor their statuses, and track succession planning progress across your organization.

To create a new succession plan:

  1. Click Select Employees.

  2. Search for and select the employee whose role you would like to include in Succession Planning.

  3. Click Confirm Selection.


Once an employee is added, their direct manager can be notified to begin creating a succession plan for that role. Teamflect admins may also choose to skip the notification, include an optional comment when adding the employee, and create the succession plan themselves.

Note: Employees must have an assigned job title in Teamflect before they can be added to Succession Planning.

Understanding Succession Plan Statuses

Succession plans can have one of the following statuses:

  • Not started yet A succession plan has not yet been created for the selected role.

  • Draft The manager has started creating the succession plan but has not yet activated it.

  • Active The succession plan has been completed and activated.

Additional Actions

Depending on the plan's status, Teamflect admins can perform additional actions such as:

  • Sending reminders to managers

  • Viewing plan details or creating plan

  • Deleting succession plans

Manager Ownership

Once an employee is added to Succession Planning, ownership of the succession plan is assigned to the employee's direct manager and Teamflect admins.

Both managers and Teamflect admins can then

  • Review role information

  • Select successor candidates

  • Request successor suggestions

  • Evaluate successors

  • Assign readiness levels

  • Rate competencies

  • Add comments and notes

  • Select a preferred successor

For a detailed walkthrough of the manager experience, see Manager Guide: Creating a Succession Plan for an Employee's Role.

Employee Participation

Depending on your organization's Succession Planning settings, employees may also participate in the succession planning process.

Employees can:

  • Suggest potential successors for their role when requested

  • View active succession plans created for their role

These experiences are controlled by the Succession Planning settings configured by administrators.

Benefical Use Cases

  1. Preparing for an Upcoming Retirement
    When an employee is planning to retire within the next few years, a succession plan helps identify potential successors early. Managers can evaluate candidates, assess readiness levels, and create development opportunities to ensure a smooth transition when the employee leaves.

  2. Creating Backup Coverage for Business-Critical Roles
    Some positions are essential to daily operations and can be difficult to replace quickly. Succession plans help organizations identify multiple successor candidates and maintain continuity if a key employee becomes unavailable unexpectedly.

  3. Supporting Internal Promotions
    Before promoting an employee into a new position, organizations can use succession planning to ensure there is qualified talent ready to fill the employee's current role. This reduces disruptions while supporting internal career growth.

  4. Identifying Development Opportunities for Future Leaders
    Succession planning highlights employees with the potential to take on greater responsibilities. By reviewing readiness levels and competency gaps, managers can create targeted development plans to prepare employees for future leadership roles.

  5. Evaluating Organizational Bench Strength
    HR teams can use succession plans to assess how many qualified successors exist for key positions across the organization. This visibility helps identify areas where additional hiring, training, or talent development may be needed.

  6. Facilitating Organizational Growth
    As organizations expand and new positions emerge, succession plans help leaders identify employees who may be ready to step into newly created roles. This allows organizations to scale more efficiently while leveraging internal talent.

  7. Preserving Institutional Knowledge
    When employees in specialized or senior roles leave, valuable knowledge can be lost. Succession planning encourages early identification of successors, providing opportunities for knowledge transfer before a transition occurs.

  8. Encouraging Career Growth and Employee Retention
    Employees are more engaged when they can see potential career paths within the organization. Succession planning helps managers identify future opportunities and support employees in building the skills needed to advance.

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