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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:
Click Select Employees.
Search for and select the employee whose role you would like to include in Succession Planning.
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
Succession Planning Models
Teamflect supports two succession planning models. Your organization can choose the one that best fits your succession planning process.
Manager-owned succession plans
In a manager-owned succession plan, the employee's direct manager is responsible for creating, maintaining, and reviewing the succession plan. Employees may contribute information when participation is enabled, but managers remain responsible for managing the plan.
Both managers and Teamflect admins can then
The manager creates the succession plan.
The manager or a Teamflect admin reviews the role information, selects successor candidates, evaluates their readiness and competencies, adds comments, and identifies a preferred successor.
If enabled, the manager can request successor suggestions from the employee.
The manager finalizes the succession plan.
The organization uses the completed plan during succession planning discussions.
For a detailed walkthrough, see Succession Plan Editor Guide: Creating a Succession Plan for an Employee's Role
Employee-owned succession plans
Employees can create and complete their succession plan, update it whenever needed, and submit it for review. Managers review the submitted information, which the organization then uses to support succession planning discussions.
The employee creates and completes their succession plan by selecting successor candidates, assessing their readiness, rating their competencies, and adding comments to support their evaluations.
The employee updates the plan whenever needed.
Manager reviews the submitted information and finalizes the succession plan.
The organization uses the approved plan during succession planning discussions.
These experiences are controlled by the Succession Planning settings configured by administrators.
For more information, see End-User Guide: Viewing Succession Plans and Suggesting Successors.
Benefical Use Cases
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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.