Talent management is more than just completing annual performance reviews. It’s understanding and responding to employees’ perceptions of your organization. In this blog post, learn how to improve the employee experience with succession planning.

Your organization’s key roles will inevitably be vacated. People will retire or move on to other opportunities, and you’ll need a plan to fill those positions so workforce disruptions are minimized. Succession planning tools in your talent management software are a great way to prime internal candidates to step into your most critical roles, but that’s not the end of the story. You can leverage these solutions to do more than just prepare for the future.

Succession planning initiatives can significantly impact your employees’ experiences of working for your organization. When executed effectively, your succession plan can motivate your talent to enhance their skills, increase their productivity, and better align their goals with your organization’s objectives. Below, we explore three ways succession planning improves the employee experience.

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1) Promote Employee Training and Engagement

Succession planning lets you design clear, well-defined career pathways that demonstrate how employees can progress at your organization. These career pathways can help your people identify opportunities for mentorship, education, and practical work experiences tailored to their desired future roles. Employees should also be able to see which skills and competencies they must master to be successful in future positions. Good succession planning tools make it easier for employees to connect their career goals with their professional training needs.

With succession planning tools, you can document the skills and competencies your employees already possess and highlight growth opportunities based on individuals’ specific career goals. When your employees align their career aspirations and professional learning needs, they can achieve their goals while also improving the overall skillsets within your organization. Aligning your succession planning efforts with your employees’ professional growth helps you create a more skilled and competent workforce while also enhancing your employees’ experiences at work.

Aligning professional training to career development also helps you create and nurture a culture of learning, which in turn can lead to improved employee engagement. The 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report found that seven in ten people say workplace learning improves their sense of connection to their organization. According to the same report, eight in ten people say learning adds purpose to their work. Linking succession planning and employee training can motivate your workforce and propel your highest performers forward.

When used efficiently, your talent management software makes it easy for you to nurture and engage your talent throughout their tenure at your organization. Succession planning tools help you thoroughly prepare your employees to step into new roles at your organization. Along with data from performance reviews, you can track which key roles are likely to be vacated due to retirements and promotions, as well as which employees may be flight risks. With this data, you can strategically plan to onboard internal talent to swiftly fill these key positions. This will ultimately provide you with a smoother transition period with fewer disruptions to your productivity.

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2) Showcase Internal Growth Opportunities

Even the best career pathing tools won’t necessarily translate to your workforce as future growth opportunities within your organization. Rather than lose top performers who seek to grow, leverage your succession planning tools to showcase when and how your employees can take on new roles and challenges without leaving your organization. When you make it clear to your workforce that they have a way to move forward, they’ll be more likely to have a positive outlook on their future within your organization.

Robust talent management software includes succession planning tools that help your employees see how they can grow both laterally and vertically. These tools will also empower your managers to discuss career aspirations with their direct reports and the steps they need to take to reach their goals. Documenting these discussions with talent management software makes it easier to illuminate which individuals might be your emerging leaders and develop them for future roles.

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3) Nurture and Encourage a Diverse Workforce

When you’re running a large enterprise, sometimes employees can fall through the cracks. Your talent management software brings together succession planning and performance management data to help you understand why individuals might have been overlooked in the past. If employees are labeled as “low” or “average” performers, you can use your data to get to the bottom of why they’re underperforming and put supports in place to help them succeed. If your data reveals that certain employee groups have been overlooked by mistake, you can take the necessary steps to correct these errors. Doing so will reinforce to your employees that succession within your organization is based on their merits and performance.

Succession planning helps ensure that you’re creating a diverse pipeline of leaders who will continue to propel your organization forward. Ensuring that your succession plans include employees from diverse backgrounds will help you keep your organization consistently progressing toward its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals. Prioritizing DEI initiatives can cut your attrition risk by 50%, as well as increase your employees’ motivation and happiness by 25 and 31 percentage points, respectively. When your workforce is happy and motivated, you’ll be more likely to benefit from increased productivity and agility, keeping your organization competitive in your market. Plus, your workers will have a better experience and be more likely to consistently perform at their best.

SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION PLANNING STARTS TODAY. DOWNLOAD THIS FREE RESOURCE TO GET GOING | The Importance of Succession Planning: 6 Ways to Safeguard Your Organization by Preparing for the Future

A Final Word on Succession Planning Tools

Your succession planning tools are an investment in your employees’ workplace experience and overall organizational success. However, a good tool also requires a plan for proper usage. When done right, succession planning will give your employees the tools they need to make successful transitions into future roles at your organization. It also encourages smoother transitions and fewer workforce disruptions when your organization’s key roles are inevitably vacated.