Frontline succession planning without the guesswork

Step 1 — Identify genuinely critical roles

Criticality is about operational consequence, not level. A shift supervisor holding a food safety sign-off can be more critical than a head-office manager.

• What stops or slows if this role is empty for 30 days?
• Is the knowledge documented or held by one person?
• How scarce is the skill in your labour market?
• Does the role carry a compliance or safety accountability?

Step 2 — Assess readiness, don't declare it

Readiness should be evidenced against the same leadership capability standard used in performance and promotion, so a rating travels between sites.

Step 3 — Read cover as a portfolio

Cover is a system-level number. Two ready-now successors both reporting to the same leader is thinner cover than the spreadsheet suggests.

• Count roles with at least one assessed ready-now successor
• Flag single-successor roles and shared-manager concentration
• Note where external hiring is the only realistic route
• Track flight risk against your highest-criticality roles

Step 4 — Run a review cadence that holds

1. 01

   Quarterly

   Update readiness, flight risk and open development moves.

2. 02

   Half-yearly

   Calibrate ratings across sites and functions together.

3. 03

   Annually

   Re-baseline critical roles as the operating plan changes.