Succession plan template
A succession plan names the roles your company can't afford to leave empty, how likely each is to fall vacant, and who could step in: in an emergency, permanently now, or in one to two years with development. This free Word template sets that out for each key role, with the actions that get successors ready and a date to review it.
Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.
It's written for companies of roughly 30 to 200 people, where a key role is often one person with no deputy, such as the finance lead or the person who holds the biggest customer relationships.
What's in the template
Succession plan
| Company | |
|---|---|
| Plan owner | Usually the managing director or HR lead |
| Approved by | |
| Date | |
| Next review | At least yearly, and when a key person resigns or changes role |
| Who may see this plan | For example the MD, HR lead and plan owner only |
1. Key roles
The roles whose sudden loss would hurt most: revenue, safety, customers, or knowledge held by one person. Rate the risk of loss using section 5.
| Key role | Current holder | Why it's critical | Risk of loss (H/M/L) | Impact if vacant (H/M/L) | Notice period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2. Successors
Emergency cover keeps the work going for weeks, not years. Ready now could take the role permanently tomorrow. Ready in 1-2 years needs the development in section 3. Leave a cell empty rather than writing in a weak name.
| Key role | Emergency cover | Ready now | Ready in 1-2 years | If nobody internal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
3. Development actions
| Successor | For role | Gap to close | Action | Owner | By when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4. Knowledge only one person holds
System access, customer and supplier relationships, routines and judgement calls. Record where each is documented, or the date it will be. Never put passwords in this plan.
| Key role | What only they know | Where it's documented | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
5. Rating the risk of loss
| Rating | Use when |
|---|---|
| High | The holder has resigned, or has told you they plan to leave or step back within a year |
| Medium | No stated plans, but people in this role are hard to keep or to replace |
| Low | Settled in the role, with nothing to suggest they'll leave |
Base ratings on what people have told you and on the job market, never on age or assumptions about health or family.
6. Review log
| Date | Reviewed by | What changed |
|---|---|---|
How to write a succession plan
- Pick key roles, not senior people. Ask which empty chair would hurt most next month: it may be the only engineer who can set up a machine, or the bookkeeper who knows every supplier. Start from your org chart; the skills matrix shows single points of failure further down.
- Rate risk and impact using the definitions in section 5, so a High means the same for every role.
- Name successors in three time frames, starting with emergency cover, because that's the gap that bites first.
- Be honest when there's nobody. An empty "ready now" box tells you to develop someone or plan an external hire.
- Agree development with each successor: deputising during holidays, a project, a course, time with key customers. Put the actions in the training plan with dates.
- Get knowledge out of people's heads (section 4). It protects you even when no successor is ready.
- Review it yearly, and as soon as a key person resigns or changes role.
Example: a fictional 140-person precision engineering company
Four of the company's key roles, as they appear in sections 1 and 2:
| Key role | Risk | Impact | Emergency cover | Ready now | Ready in 1-2 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production manager | High | High | Ana Silva, day-shift leader | Nobody | Ana Silva; Kieran Doyle |
| Finance director | Medium | High | Ravi Sharma, financial controller | Nobody | Ravi Sharma |
| Quality manager | Low | High | Ben Ford, quality engineer | Ben Ford | |
| IT lead (one person) | Medium | High | Contracted IT support firm | Nobody | Nobody internal |
The production manager line is the urgent one: he has said he wants to step back in 2027, and nobody is ready now. The plan gives Ana six months of deputising on Fridays and a production planning course, and asks the current manager to write down his scheduling rules. The IT line needs a different answer: nobody internal will ever be the successor, so the actions are about access and documentation, with admin rights held by two people.
Keeping it confidential and fair
A succession plan holds personal information: names, judgements about readiness, sometimes plans to leave. Share it only with the few who need it, and write each entry as if the person might read it, because they might.
- Access requests (UK): people have the right to a copy of their personal information. There's an exemption for management forecasting and planning, but the ICO says it applies only where disclosure would be likely to prejudice the conduct of the business, and should be considered case by case.
- Age: don't pencil in retirements from people's ages. In the UK the default retirement age no longer exists, so people can usually work as long as they want, and age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. In the US, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects people aged 40 and over, including in promotions and training, at employers with 20 or more staff (EEOC).
This template isn't legal advice. If a plan touches someone's retirement or health, take advice first.
Common mistakes
- The same name against every role. One strong manager can't succeed five people at once.
- Treating emergency cover as succession. Holding the fort for a month isn't the same as being ready for the job.
- No development actions, so the "ready in 1-2 years" names are no readier two years later.
- Promising the job. Being named as a possible successor isn't a promotion; say so when you discuss it.
Frequently asked questions
Should employees know they're in the succession plan?
Usually yes, for the development part: people can't prepare for responsibilities they don't know about. Tell them they're being developed for a bigger role, not that the job is theirs, and keep the risk ratings and the other names confidential.
What's the difference between a succession plan and a business continuity plan?
A succession plan covers losing people from key roles, for good or for a long time. A business continuity plan covers any disruption, such as losing a building, your IT or a supplier, and includes short-term cover for absent people.
How many roles should a succession plan cover?
For a company of 30 to 200 people, start with the five to ten roles that score high for impact. Add more once those have real successors.