Which roles need a succession plan?

Any role whose vacancy would stop work, lose customers or take months to refill. That includes senior leaders, and it also includes specialists, key account holders and people who are the only ones to know a system.

How often should a succession plan be reviewed?

Twice a year, and after any change that affects it: a resignation, a promotion, a reorganization or a new critical role. An out-of-date plan gives false comfort.

Should you tell employees they are in the succession plan?

In most cases, yes. Telling someone that you see them growing into a larger role, and what they need to learn to get there, gives them a reason to stay. Be clear that it is a direction and not a promise.

What is the difference between succession planning and replacement planning?

Replacement planning names a stand-in who could cover a role tomorrow. Succession planning goes further and develops people over time so that they are ready for the role. The emergency cover column in this template is the replacement plan.

Retention and talent planning

Succession plan template

A succession planning sheet with your critical roles, who could step in now or later, emergency cover and a development table for successors.

TemplateWhat you type stays in your browser.

Team or department

Plan owner

Review date

Critical roles

Development for successors

Gaps

Roles with no successor, and what we will do about each

Last updated October 14, 2026

A succession plan names who could step into each critical role.

Succession planning is identifying who could step into critical roles, and closing the gaps before the seat is empty. A succession plan is the sheet that records it: the roles that would hurt most if they were vacant, the people who could fill them now or after some development, and who covers in an emergency.

It is for more than the top jobs. In a small company the critical role is often the one person who knows the billing system or holds the largest client relationship. This template lists up to five roles, then tracks what each named successor still needs to learn.

Here is how to use the succession plan template in five steps.

How to use it

1List the roles, not the people
2Rate the impact
3Name successors honestly
4Add emergency cover
5Plan the development and review it

List the roles, not the people. Start from the roles whose vacancy would stop work or lose customers, whatever their level.
Rate the impact. Mark each role high, medium or low for what would happen if it were empty for three months.
Name successors honestly. Write who is ready now and who could be ready in one to two years. An empty box is a finding, not a failure.
Add emergency cover. For every role, name the person who would keep things running next week, even if they are not the long-term successor.
Plan the development and review it. Give each successor one gap to close and one action, and review the sheet twice a year.

Here is a worked example with invented names.

Take an invented company, Tindervale Clinics, with 60 staff. Its director lists four critical roles: the practice manager, the scheduling lead, the lead nurse and the billing coordinator.

Three of the four roles have someone who could cover in an emergency. The billing coordinator role has nobody: one person, Bruno Vidal, has run billing alone for six years. Nobody is ready now for the practice manager role, and the lead nurse could be ready in one to two years if she gains budget experience.

Worked example

Tindervale Clinics, an invented company: the first succession plan

Critical roles listedPractice manager, scheduling lead, lead nurse, billing coordinator
Emergency coverIn place for 3 of 4 roles
No cover at allBilling coordinator: Bruno Vidal has run billing alone for six years
Practice manager, ready nowNobody
Practice manager, ready in 1 to 2 yearsThe lead nurse, if she gains budget experience

Two actions

A receptionist trains on billing two afternoons a week, and the lead nurse takes over the supplies budget this year

The plan sets two actions. A receptionist trains on billing two afternoons a week, and the lead nurse takes over the supplies budget this year. The sheet is reviewed every six months.

These mistakes spoil a succession plan.

Planning only for the top job and missing the specialist nobody else can replace.
Naming the same strong person as successor for four different roles.
Keeping the plan secret from the successors, who then leave for the growth they did not know was coming.
Writing a name in the box with no development behind it.
Filling it in once and not reviewing it after people join, leave or change roles.

People ask these questions about succession plans.

A succession plan is a record of who could take over each critical role in a company, either immediately or after some development. It also names who would cover a role in an emergency and what each potential successor still needs to learn.

These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.

Succession planning
Succession planning is identifying who could step into critical roles, and closing the gaps before the seat is empty.
9-box grid
The 9-box grid is a talent review tool that places each employee on a three by three matrix of current performance against future potential.
Internal mobility
Internal mobility is people moving into new roles inside the company, sideways or upward, instead of leaving to get the same move elsewhere.
Dysfunctional turnover
Dysfunctional turnover is a departure that damages the organization: a high performer, a specialist, or someone hard to replace at any price.
Flight risk
Flight risk is the likelihood that a specific employee leaves in the near future, based on observable signals rather than a manager's hunch.

These pages on this site go deeper.

These templates pair well with this one.

9-box grid template
A rating table, the three by three grid to type names into, and next steps.
Individual development plan template
Strengths, direction and three development goals with actions and dates.
Employee retention plan template
Four measures, three reasons, the roles you cannot lose and the actions with owners.

Find out what turnover is costing you.

Put a number on it in about two minutes with the free turnover cost calculator, using your own headcount, average salary and turnover rate.

Calculate your turnover cost

Free, no signup required.

Back to the HR templates, where all 22 are listed.