Talent Review and Succession Planning Masterclass

Participant Guidance

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Developing People: Improving Care

A national framework for action on improvement and leadership development in NHS funded services was launched in December 2016. It was refreshed in March 2019. What is this framework? It’s the first version of a national framework to guide local, regional and national action on developing NHS-funded staff Its sponsors are the main national organisations with NHS responsibilities. The framework applies to everyone in NHS-funded roles in all professions and skill areas, clinical and otherwise Future updates are expected to cover people in social care as well. What is the framework’s purpose? To equip and encourage people in NHS-funded roles to deliver continuous improvement in local health and care systems and gain pride and joy from their work. To that end, the framework aims to guide team leaders at every level of the NHS to develop a critical set of improvement and leadership capabilities among their staff and themselves. Who is this document for? This document is directed primarily at the senior management teams of all organisations and partnerships responsible for NHS-funded activity. The idea is to release regular updates, improved by feedback from teams using the framework. Why? Evidence and experience from high performing health and care systems shows that having these capabilities enables teams to continuously improve population health, patient care, and value for money Developing these capabilities and giving people the time and support required to see them bear fruit is a reliable strategy for closing the three gaps identified in the NHS Five Year Forward View The framework identifies critical capabilities to develop as being:

System leadership skills

Improvement skills

Compassionate, inclusive leadership skills

Talent management In the context of talent management, it specifically highlights a need to fill current senior vacancies and future leadership pipelines with the right numbers of diverse, appropriately developed people.

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The Well-Led Framework

The well-led framework for leadership and governance has recently been updated and applies to all NHS and Foundation Trusts. It provides strengthened content on leadership, culture, system-working and quality improvement. New key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) make specific links to talent management activities in both organisational and system contexts.

Senior leaders will be expected to evidence the following:

Their organisation takes a strategic approach to developing leadership and managing talent to ensure there are enough appropriately skilled, diverse and system-focused leaders to deliver high quality, effective, continuously improving compassionate care (KLOE 1).

A leadership strategy and succession plan are in place and regularly reviewed, based on quantitative and qualitative data. They should cover clinical and managerial leadership positions at board level and key roles below board level (such as clinical, operational and finance leads) (KLOE 1).

They make use of relevant indicators in relation to the people or the human resources strategy, e.g. safe staffing, workforce capacity and capability to deliver the future strategy, performance appraisal, training and development, and leadership (KLOE 6).

That the organisation responds with flexibility and agility to the changes in the local health economy and takes part in pooled activities which may include local area talent management planning and leadership development (KLOE 7).

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This list of KLOEs linked to talent management is not exhaustive.

Organisations are being encouraged to scrutinise their current positions, and agree and evidence their intended actions.

Local partners are also encouraged to use this framework in a system context and emphasis has been placed in the new guidance on proactive partnership working.

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Measuring Performance and Potential

At the heart of talent management and succession planning is the fair and accurate assessment of performance and potential. There are also the fundamental factors of the individual’s aspirations and their readiness to fulfil another role (should that be their desire). There are many ways of making assessments, both formal and informal. Consideration should be given to the evidence and validity of such measures and how these are subsequently calibrated, particularly where ratings of performance and potential are involved.

Performance

Performance should be measured by a combination of WHAT people do (the tasks and objectives they need to complete as part of their role) and HOW they do it (the behaviours and attitudes they display in their day to day work and interactions). Typical sources of individual performance information that are readily available to organisations may include:

1:1 data

Appraisals, including the extent to which performance and development objectives have been met. At their best, these also include measurable behavioural indicators outlining the expectations of the post holder.

360 Feedback

Recent work challenges/specific assignments

Performance metrics (individual, team and organisational) Other methods of assessing performance in the broader context of talent management include:

Interviews

Observation

Assessment centres

Development centres These may include assessment in relation to specific skills and/or aptitudes individuals display (what they can do), along with a review against a set of behavioural competencies, ideally aligned to the organisation’s values (how they go about it).

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Potential

Potential can be defined as having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future (Oxford English Dictionary). Potential is not a stable or limited characteristic. It something that individuals can choose to increase or decrease depending on their level of motivation at a given point in time. In measuring potential, it’s important to recognise that everyone is different. They may be happy in their current role or aspire to move on to something new.

It can be assessed formally or informally:

Questionnaires with follow up conversations

Using a questionnaire, the individual and their manager can rate against a number of statements which provide more detailed definitions and are asked to provide examples of how they have demonstrated potential in these areas.

Through conversation, managers can share any evidence that they have observed of the level of interest an individual has shown in getting involved at the next level up, their interest in discussing their development and stretching themselves, and explore the information with the aim of getting a shared view on this.

Examples of questions include:

Do you feel that you performed at a ‘stretch’ level, for example standing in for your manager or your involvement in a particularly challenging event? What potential did you demonstrate?

Are you on a development programme? Or have you been through an assessment centre? What have you discovered about yourself and your personal styles?

What previous experience do you have or experience from previous organisations or from outside of work that you feel reveals untapped potential?

What would you like to achieve in your current role? Is your current role giving you what you need?

How would you like your role to evolve or change? What is the attraction?

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What are your career aspirations currently? Please come prepared to share examples (if you have these) of how you are preparing yourself to be ready for increased responsibility or other career development opportunities

What development will you need to make the transition? What support do you need to do this?

Based upon your performance in your current role, provide an indication of your readiness for another role

Free flowing conversation

These are less formal, and may not use specific criteria, focusing more upon simple measures in relation to overall performance and a readiness to move. Some managers use ‘gut feel’ or a ‘crystal ball’ approach. The latter involves answering three significant questions, irrespective of assessment methodologies or rating systems. These are:

How do these individuals set their agenda?

How do these individuals take others with them?

How do these individuals present themselves?

Examples of criteria used to measure potential

• Learning agility; This is about self-awareness and a focus on personal improvement. Individuals displaying potential within this area will actively seeks experiences, feedback and remain open to opportunities to learn. They will use these learning experiences to adjust the way they behave and the actions they take. This is also about displaying flexibility in the way in which develop yourself around the evolving needs of the work and personal contexts within which you operate.

• People (interpersonal) agility; This is about seeking others views, engendering trust and finding the common ground that leads to an agreed way forward. Individuals displaying potential within this area display confidence and credibility with colleagues regardless of profession and have or are developing a positive reputation/visibility across the organisation. They are able to build and maintain relationships with individuals at all levels, manage their emotions in difficult situations and display resilience and calmness when challenged.

• Cognitive (mental) agility; This is about thinking through problems from a

fresh point of view and taking a step back to consider the wider context. Individuals displaying potential in this area are able to make sense of complex

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situations and find ways to simplify them for themselves and others. They are also able to find solutions that work now and in the longer term.

• Change agility; This is about being curious and liking to experiment with new

things.

• Results agility; This is about achieving results under tough conditions, demonstrating perseverance and courage of conviction and inspiring others to do the same.

Rating Scales

The aim in measurement of performance and/or potential is the objective collection and clear expression of evidence. Accurate and clearly documented observations about how individuals have performed are critical to discussions. It is important to summarise the observations and assign a rating based on the evidence you have as to the extent to which the individual has displayed the behaviour or the extent to which they have met an objective.

Weigh up the positive and negative

Consider what was missing - ‘evidence by omission’

Strong and weak evidence

Refer to the definitions/criteria where they exist

Recording evidence

Use your evidence and to apply a rating

Leave blank if you have no evidence

Summarise what has gone well/less well

Structure evidence for use in giving clear feedback

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Rating preferences

Talent Grids

The talent grid (sometimes known as the 9-box grid) provides a method to summarising where an individual (or group of individuals) is/are at a given point in time. By bringing together the dimensions of performance and potential the grid forms the basis of a conversation between individuals and their manager.

Thinking about this information as a snapshot is a useful metaphor as we know that individual performance and potential change and evolve constantly and can be influenced by both the individual and their manager. To this end the talent grid is NOT about putting people in a box but rather guiding them and their manager towards the most helpful conversation, finding the right solutions and taking action. As a rule of thumb, we would recommend that an individual’s position on the grid has a shelf life of no more than 6 to 12 months.

The format of the talent management grid is illustrated below is based around the follow axes:

The X axis (horizontal line) of 3 boxes relates to performance i.e. the extent to which the individual has achieved their objectives and displayed the relevant behaviour for their role.

The Y axis (vertical line) relates to leadership potential i.e. the level of leadership potential that an individual is displaying at a given point in time.

A combination of X and Y axis defines the position on the grid that the individual is placed.

There are a number of talent grids available, including an NHS specific tool. Remember, the purpose of the grid is to increase the quality of the conversation between the individual and their manager and ultimately for both parties to focus on how they can maximise the level of potential that an individual is displaying at a given point in time. Definitions and titles in the boxes do vary and it’s important to get the language right for your organisation.

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Example 1 – Maximising Potential Conversations Tool

Example 2 – Talent Conversations Grid

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Example 3 – Grid from another industry

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Talent Management Grid Positions – Example Descriptions

G – Individuals delivering low to moderate performance and results, lacking sufficient familiarity with own job and its requirements. Show lots of interest in bigger issues, taking more responsibility and open to new experiences. May be new to role, not playing to strengths, over-stretched as not delegating or developing team or being distracted from own areas of responsibility by these wider issues.

H - Individuals performing well in current role and at times exceeding expectations for their position. Their focus is on stretching up into more stretching leadership arenas, wider stakeholder management and showing initiative through pursuit of bigger challenges or opportunities. May be interested in next level but there is enough to keep them occupied in current role for now.

I – Individual’s potential is truly maximised in their current role, always exceeding expectations and they may have the ability to stretch into new and more challenging leadership roles. Seen as skilled manager or role model by peer group, assuming leadership with peers. May be highly experienced manager in current role or across different management roles.

D – Individuals delivering low to moderate performance and results whilst showing some interest in taking greater responsibility and capacity to learn and take on demands of higher-level roles. The dilemma is why they are not realising their potential in their current role. Maybe new to role and uncertain where to start, unclear on role responsibilities or in wrong role.

E – Individuals here exhibit the right behaviours and meet performance expectations. They also display a moderate degree of motivation and potential to take on new challenges and stretch at their current organisational level or within role. Individuals falling into this position should be supported to maximise their impact, influence and effectiveness at the level at which they are operating before considering a step up.

F – Individuals delivering strong performance, solid results and great value in current role. Occasionally exceed role expectations by taking higher levels of responsibility. Key focus is performing in current role, with some attention paid to developing self, increasing scope of current role and developing wider networks. May be more focused on current rather than future.

A - Individuals delivering low to moderate performance and results, exhibiting little interest in taking on increased responsibility or higher-level roles. May be new to role, in wrong role, over promoted or hasn’t had opportunity to develop.

B – Individuals delivering the results that are expected of them with limited interest in taking on more responsibilities or higher-level roles. Focus on success in own job or area, more tactical than strategic. May be valued at this level, at the limit of their leadership capability, too long in role, under-stimulated or over-burdened (delegation/role issues) with less room to learn/develop.

C – Individuals here deliver consistently strong performance and solid results, enjoy a high-level status in role but may show little desire to take on greater responsibility. May be a leader in professional discipline, reached their potential, fulfilled their career aspirations or may need targeted support in reaching their full potential.

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Knowing your people

The quality of the relationship you have with individuals of your team can significantly impact the quality of the conversation you will be having about their performance, potential, aspirations and readiness.

Take a few moments to reflect on your assessment of the level of trust that exists between you and different team members:

Where would you place them?

What are the positive aspects of these relationships?

What are your perceptions as to what works less well?

Why?

Where would you like the relationship to be?

What action could you take to improve this?

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Sources of error and bias It is inevitable that our own attitudes will influence how view individuals, particularly when using ratings. It’s important to ensure that these have as little impact as possible. A number of biases have been identified which you need to be aware of when rating performance. Bias in either direction can result in a reduction in objectivity and may mean that evaluations are unduly influenced by irrelevant factors. Common biases to be mindful of include:

Halo effect - generalising one aspect of good performance to all performance

Horns effect - generalising one aspect of poor performance to all performance

Central tendency - giving “middle of the road” evaluation to avoid high or low ratings

Leniency - generally viewing performance favourably

Harshness - generally viewing performance unfavourably

First impressions - tendency to be influenced by initial impressions and disregard subsequent contrary evidence

Recency - tendency to be influenced by last observation made and disregard earlier contrary evidence

Stereotyping - allowing personal bias/prejudice to distort evaluation of performance

Rushed decision making – spending insufficient time evaluating performance

Lack of concentration – Not focusing on the appraisal process/allowing distractions leading to misinterpretation of or gaps in evidence

Similarity/attractiveness - making assumptions about the individual’s performance based on your own preferences or their appearance

Priming – a form of unconscious working memory which causes people to be sensitive to certain types of information

Attribution bias – the tendency to place undue emphasis on the impact of

someone’s personality to explain their behaviour rather than considering the

impact of their current situation

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To minimise sources of error it is useful to:

Be aware of potential biases

Do your preparation

Be aware of and check your own strong opinions

Challenge yourself and others – what evidence are you using?

Potential triggers Triggers of bias or errors in judgement can occur when:

When we are hurrying to make a decision

When we are under pressure

When we need to access/surmise information quickly

When we are overloaded or tired

When we are nervous, unsure, lack confidence

When we see or hear specific characteristics or behaviours that confirms what we already ‘know’ to be true

Consider when your bias is most likely to be triggered and when you may need to pay extra attention to conscious decision making. Hints and tips to aid conscious decision making:

Before embarking on any talent management activity, instruct yourself to be fair and objective

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to understand the reasons for their actions

Be alert to your own personal preferences and biases when making decisions

Make time to consider all relevant factors – do not make people decisions at haste

Treat everyone as an individual

Use evidence, criteria and standards that encourage objectivity

Focus on the task in hand

Ask others to challenge you if you think they are being unfair

Regularly review the quality of your decisions

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Ensure you have considered all relevant factors when making a decision or assessing another individual

Listen and give people time to explain their point of view

Talent Review Boards The talent review board is the term used within talent management to describe a group of managers who come together as a collective to evaluate performance and potential of individuals. The individuals that they are discussing are sometimes known as the talent pool. The purpose of the talent review board is to support managers in applying the appropriate level of rigor, fairness and objectivity in relation to the observations they have made about the individuals they manage. This should in turn assist in the process of making well informed decisions and fair evaluation of the levels of performance and potential that individuals are displaying at a given point in time, succession planning and development and/or support requirements. Talent review boards usually happen annually (in some cases bi-annually) and work best when aligned with the organisations appraisal cycle. The diagram below illustrates the typical stages involved:

Step 1 - Line manager holds talent conversation with individual

Step 2 - Preparation for talent review takes place

Step 3 - Line mgr provides brief overview, aspirations, readiness and rationale

Step 4 - Contributors ask questions and line manager responds

Step 5 - Contributors provide their evidence/examples

Step 6 - Facilitaton of decisions about dvpt, succession and feedback

Step 7 - Succession plan finalised, feedback given and actions followed up

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Before the review

Good practice includes setting time aside to prepare thoroughly for each conversation, gathering evidence and completing any documentation prior to the review.

Information for the talent review process comes from two main sources, these being the appraisal (to assess the individual’s performance) and the talent conversation (to capture the individual and manager’s view on potential, aspirations and readiness).

This information should be gathered before the Talent Review Board and it will be used to inform discussions about the individual, their development and succession decisions. Sometimes individuals are placed on a talent management grid (see previous section).

A date for the conversation with individuals who are being reviewed should be agreed – ideally this should align with internal review processes. Managers should commit to finding a suitable room, away from day to distractions and where they will not be interrupted. The length of your review is up to you, but we suggest that you set aside 2.5 – 3 hours – the meeting is almost certain to take longer the first time tie you do it.

Some managers prefer to separate out the appraisal and talent components whereas others like to hold one conversation to accommodate everything. The needs of the individual should be taken into account to ensure this is as effective as possible.

Information should be submitted ahead of the Talent Review so that initial analysis can take place and an agenda can be prepared.

During the review

In general, the talent review board will look to evaluate no more than 10 - 12 people in a half-day session. This ensures the board has the opportunity to spend a good amount of time discussing each individual. The review board (which ideally should be facilitated or chaired by an individual who is independent of the other managers) will then run through a process as follows:

Managers will agree / be reminded of the ground rules and principles required for review board to run effectively.

At the beginning of the day a succession chart will be drawn up on a flip chart – this should be populated by the facilitator as decisions are made as part of the talent review.

The next stage (and what subsequently forms the bulk of the day’s activities) requires each manager to provide the rest of the board with evidence as to the decision making that has led them to decisions about potential, readiness and development needs. This should include sharing with the board where the individual sees themselves and examples and evidence from both the manager and the individual.

Following this explanation, the rest of the talent review board are invited to challenge, comment, question or seek clarity. The outcome of this conversation is agreement between the talent review board about where the

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succession implications and development/support requirements for each individual.

During and after this process each manager will need to record the conclusions reached by the group about the individual and how they can be better supported by the organisation. Managers will be provided with a feedback sheet that will help them summarise the key messages and form the basis of their follow-up / feedback conversation with the individual. The feedback should be action-oriented.

The above process can be challenging to facilitate particularly if there are large numbers of individuals to evaluate. With this in mind the selection and training of talent review board facilitators / chairs is critical and strongly recommended.

After the review

As mentioned previously, feedback offers crucial insights and is a process fundamental to increasing the performance and potential of people in organisations. You need to plan your feedback carefully to ensure it is effective.

As with the appraisal and talent conversations, you should commit to finding a suitable room, away from day to day distractions and where you will not be interrupted. The length of your review is up to you, but we suggest that you set aside 1 hour. Managers usually bring along the outcomes from the Talent Review Board to share. You may also find it helpful to have copies of the appraisal and talent conversation forms at this meeting.

Suggested flow for the conversation

The manager introduces the conversation and debriefs how the Talent Review Board was managed as a process. Then the manager talks the individual through their feedback and the rationale behind this. No-one else’s position is shared. Reiterate that there are no right or wrong places to be – the most important thing is to emphasise the quality of the conversation and to ensure that this leads to supporting the individual to maximise their potential.

The conversation should move onto exploring development options and the development plan created as part of the appraisal should be revisited. Any development actions should be documented, enacted, monitored and evaluated on an on-going basis to review the impact it is having in terms of sustaining or the individual’s performance, or supporting them to achieve their aspirations.

Remember there are a wide range of development opportunities that could be explored at a local, regional and national level. Amongst other things, these could include coaching, shadowing, networking, reading, taking on new projects, reflective practice, secondments and attendance at specific courses. More options are provided under the growth and development section.

Managers have a responsibility to work with their organisational learning and development functions to help them understand the development needs of their staff and finding appropriate ways of supporting these.

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Top tips

The key is to keep the feedback factual and then explore with the individual what they think they can do to improve or develop. When giving feedback:

Be timely – make sure you set a time and date as soon after the review board as possible

Be clear – explain the process and relay the facts

Make it specific – give examples and explore how the individual can develop or improve

Vary your approach according to the receiver – tailor your response accordingly

Check your feedback has been understood – agree actions and next steps

Ongoing support to deliver in current role and realise potential

Remember, the Appraisal and Feedback and Development Conversations are just the start, the conversation never ends. Individuals and managers need to keep it open and go back to it as often as they can. For example, in one to ones, informal discussions, opportune moments e.g. ‘corridor discussions’, open and transparently where appropriate, and in any other ways that demonstrate that individuals are valued by the organisation.

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Growth and Development

In the context of managing your talent pipeline, it’s important to consider what’s required for individuals making a smooth transition during each stage of their development. Here are some of the options you could consider at different levels of your organisation or that could be aligned to individual learning styles:

Change/expand responsibilities

Move function/team

Stretch assignment

Project work

Rotations

Secondments

Research

Act up

Deputise

Shadow

Practice new behaviours

Try different approaches

Networking

Supervision

On-line resources

Journals

Conferences

Coaching

Mentoring

Learning sets

“Act as if…..” sessions

Reflective practice

Learning journal

Covering for holidays

Specialist briefings

Speak to experts

Attendance at meetings

Podcasts

Visit external organisations

In-house courses and programmes

External courses and programmes

Study towards a qualification

The 70:20:10 model of development is recommended. This predicates that individuals benefit most where:

70% of learning is based on experience

20% of learning is based on feedback

10% of learning is based on formal learning

It’s important to ensure that whatever you are offering in terms of supporting talent development, that you manage expectations of individuals carefully.

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Succession Planning What is it? Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing potential future leaders or senior managers, as well as individuals to fill other business-critical positions, either in the short or the long term. The aim is for organisations to be able to fill key roles effectively if the current post holder were to leave the organisation. Why is it important? Succession planning is a key component of workforce planning – a process to ensure the right number of people with the right skills are employed in the right place at the right time to deliver on the organisation’s objectives. Who is it for? Succession planning typically covers the most senior roles in the organisation, together with short and longer-term successors for these posts. Whilst reviewing relatively low numbers can make the process more manageable, larger organisations may find it beneficial to operate devolved succession planning models at a directorate/divisional/service/area level to ensure that other business-critical, technical or hard to fill roles are covered. Progressive organisations who adopt an inclusive approach to managing and developing talent will look to identify critical roles at multiple levels within their organisation. The best succession plans consider candidates from all areas of the organisation. Succession planning stages The following stages are critical to effective succession planning:

1. Identifying critical roles

2. Identifying readiness, requirements and opportunities

3. Creating the succession plan

4. Assessing and mitigating risks

5. Measuring impact

6. Regular review

These stages apply to all of the different approaches that can be taken (outlined in the table on the following page). Succession plans should not be created in isolation, without the knowledge of those who are being named as successors, nor should do they guarantee roles to individuals who are seeking to move. Different approaches

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Succession planning can be used in a variety of contexts. All have their own pros and cons which need to be considered in organisational planning. It is common for organisations to use a blend of these models to meet their needs (i.e. for executive and critical roles). This table summarises the key features of each model: Model and description

Pros Cons When to use

For Executive roles only

This only considers the top team e.g. CEO and main Board of Directors.

Where the top team is critical to organisational success, this will provide for business continuity,

It does not take account of the complexity of most businesses where less similar roles can impact business strategically and operationally.

Where the organisation structure is relatively uncomplicated and where the top team holds the most critical roles both strategically and operationally.

For replacement at different levels

Planning is based on expected turnover and may only focus on selected management roles.

It makes high-potential people aware of the path they are on and putting them into leadership programmes has a positive influence on retention.

It is ineffective to identify successors who will no longer be there when it is time to move them up or elsewhere in the organisation.

Where resources are limited, and the organisation is not dependent on roles – e.g. where most roles can be replaced quickly from outside if needed or internally with limited training.

For critical roles

Applied to the critical roles needed for future success. These can be determined in different ways. They are the roles which are either strategically or operationally critical. These roles can be at different levels. Organisations using this method tend to develop deep and

Continuity and stability. The organisation maintains growth and other targets because it has a steady stream of people to fill critical posts. Using critical roles enables a broader and deeper view of succession, extending it to critical roles at any level including those below director/managers or

There is a need to reach agreement on which roles are critical. This may be open to subjectivity. It is focused in the short term so needs to be balanced with a method which identifies future required skills or competencies. This may not hold currency if critical roles change and it requires effort to

In most organisational settings. It may not suit small organisations where there are limited numbers of people available for succession into a specific role.

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varied talent pools and can be used to prepare for an unknown future.

to key areas. maintain.

For leadership development

Based on building leadership capability. The blueprint for a position’s succession can be made available to all relevant employees so they can see the competencies and training required to become a candidate. Employees gain a better understanding of the likelihood of their candidacy.

Succession planning and leadership development allows people to understand the skills required for leadership positions. Managers can help develop skills by supporting with L&D activities. Combining the two enables a long-term view to be created and can support individuals to take up key roles.

It can be inappropriate where there is a strong organisational need to succession plan for technical skills. It may raise unrealistic expectations that the organisation creates development opportunities and that everybody who develops will progress.

Where leadership development is essential to the organisation – this may be application to specific tiers of staff with management and leadership responsibilities.

For technical competencies

This is based on building technical capability. Organisations identify roles that require deep technical expertise and create career ladders that may not depend upon people management skills but are mainly reliant on technical competence.

Succession planning and technical competence works well with employees who have deep technical competence but need to develop a greater understanding of the skills required for senior positions. There needs to be clear communication of the competencies needed to progress. It can promote the retention of high potential technical staff or your top talent.

It can work less well where there is a need to succession plan for managerial/generic skills alone. It may raise expectations that the organisation will guarantee progression based on technical competence.

Where technical competence is critical to organisational success and where there is a focus on retaining best talent or to be seen as attractive by external talent. This can be of use with very specialist roles.

Openness, fairness and diversity

It’s important that there is transparency for employees in relation to the succession process. This should be applied to the methods used to judge the suitability of potential successors.

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With openness should go fairness; objective assessments of all potential successors need to be made. Talent reviews provide opportunity to support and/or challenge in this area and to examine how to improve the process and practice. This is referenced and explained in the talent conversation training and briefing resources.

With the value of diversity and inclusion now widely recognised, organisations are increasingly aware of the need to ensure that diverse talents are properly developed and that diversity considerations are built into talent development activities.

Further considerations

It’s important to keep the purpose of your succession planning approach(es) at the forefront. Before embarking on succession planning, you may find it useful to consider the following:

What are the outcomes we would like to achieve through this?

Who will create succession plans?

How far will succession plans reach? e.g. Executive Team, all leadership

roles?

What is our starting point?

What level of succession planning will be discussed during Talent Review

meetings? e.g.

If applicable, what information will our regulators ask for and in what format will

we present this to them?

Who will be able to view succession plan information once finalised?

Identifying critical roles

The first step is to identify positions most critical to the organisation for which potential successors are needed. Whilst arguably all roles in the NHS are critical in one way or another, it is helpful to prioritise them where possible. You may find it helpful to do this on the basis of succession challenges you have already identified in a wider talent context such as recruitment, development or retention, or apply criteria such as:

The strategic or operational impact of a vacant role on the

organisation/service/team

Unique skill sets or knowledge bases

Strength of the external job market or internal pipeline

It is critical to take a balanced approach to succession planning, weighing up the impact of the individual and that of the role. In relation to roles, this may relate to the impact that would be felt if there was a vacancy or difficulty in recruiting. From an individual perspective, this may involve specific knowledge or skills that would prove challenging to replace.

The matrix below can support organisations to make an assessment of the criticality of roles – green indicates not critical, amber, partly critical and red, high priority. The

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outputs can be captured/recorded on the Succession Planning Role Assessment template. The criteria and colours can be aligned to organisational priorities.

Impact of vacancy on the organisation/ service/ team

High

Medium

Low

Easy Average Difficult

Difficulty of filling a vacancy

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Succession Planning – Critical Role Assessment - TEMPLATE

Name/Role:

Team name:

Service name:

Date:

1. Role assessment

Role Title Strategically Critical

(Tick as appropriate)

Operationally Critical

Both O/S

Critical

Priority H/M/L

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2. Further Information – known succession hotspots/challenges

Please provide additional information such as actual or potential risk of vacancies, further details on impact, market availability, planned actions to mitigate time to fill, readiness to advertise or enhance skills of internal successors etc.

3. Further Information – workforce profile information

Please provide additional information/observations on the profile of the current team e.g. WTE, length of service, structure, patterns relating to diversity and/or protected characteristics

4. Actions to address identified succession/profile issues

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Identifying readiness, requirements & opportunities

The aspirations, readiness and subsequent development/support requirements of individuals should be identified through the Review and Career Conversation. This can be recorded on the Team Succession Summary and the information from this can be used to provide a local succession snapshot or can be aggregated alongside summaries from other departments/services to provide broader succession insights and potential opportunities that individuals can pursue.

Creating the succession plan

The Succession Planning template can be completed once all relevant review and career conversations have taken place. These can be done on the basis of teams or specific roles, dependent on the organisation’s needs. Roles, current incumbents and leaving dates if known are added – the level of readiness of potential successors is then indicated by entering the names of the individuals who have been assessed as ready to fulfil the roles in the short and/or long term.

Assessing and mitigating risks

The Succession Planning template also provides opportunity to highlight risks and identifying mitigating actions. Common risks include:

Succession decisions being made on assumptions about the individual’s

aspirations and readiness

Selective plans – only including those who are favoured/deemed ready now

rather than including/discussing the potential, aspirations and readiness of

everyone

Lack of diversity in the talent profile of the organisation following succession

decisions.

Only looking at the short or long-term picture, rather than both may preclude

some individuals from taking up immediate/temporary or future opportunities

Individuals appearing as successors to multiple roles when they can only fill

one

Over or under supply in the pipeline – having too many individuals who are

ready with no roles to fill, or a lack of appetite/preparedness for certain roles

It is suggested that this is completed following completion of the succession plan and reviewed regularly to ensure actions are implemented.

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Measuring impact

A selection of Indicators is provided below. These could be used to measure the strength of your leadership pipelines and succession plans for critical roles. Examples include:

Number or percentage of critical positions filled internally

Number or percentage of leadership and management positions filled

internally

High potential turnover

Critical positions with 2+ identified successors

Average length of readiness

Identification of multi-successors who are successors to multiple positions in

the organisation

Number or percentage of successors who are in a different location from the

incumbents they would be succeeding

Estimation of leadership turnover expected in the coming year based on

known and/or high risk of leaving figures

Internal candidate versus external candidate fill of critical positions

Number of candidates who are defined as ready to fill positions that have been

identified as critical to the organisation

It is recommended that metrics selected are linked to other organisational key performance indicators. Further information is provided in the Talent Information Guide.

Regular review

Succession planning takes account of the growing recognition that people need to make their own career decisions and to balance career, work-life balance and other responsibilities.

Organisations need to ensure that they regularly review and develop their succession plans to meet current and future skills, capability and behavioural needs and to ensure they are closely aligned with evolving organisational priorities.

It is recommended that succession plans are reviewed and updated once a quarter or as a minimum, once every six-months to notify any changes in the performance. Potential, readiness and aspirations of potential successors and to ensure that any previously identified actions have been implemented and/or risks have been appropriately mitigated.