Career & succession pipelines: your 8 steps to success

Career & succession pipelines: your 8 steps to success in summary:

• To support successful career & succession pipelines, focus on high-impact positions, assessing both performance and potential in employees, and building tailored development plans to prepare them for future roles.
• Encourage a growth mindset by providing accessible resources, experiential learning opportunities, and recognising employee achievements to keep them engaged and aligned with career goals.
• Regularly review your pipeline effectiveness, adjust based on organisational needs, and maintain clear communication with leadership to ensure the pipeline supports long-term strategic goals.

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With the jobs market seemingly settling and vacancies falling, you might be thinking it’s time to ease up on your talent retention efforts. However, things aren’t as straightforward as they seem…

While ongoing economic uncertainty is helping businesses retain their talent, many people are choosing to stay put in their current role or are simply not available for work. This means employers are facing a smaller pool of active job seekers, making it tougher to find and attract the right candidates when vacancies do open up.

As a result, the number of vacancies out there may indeed be falling; but they’re staying open for much longer than employers would like. And, the longer a role remains unfilled, the more it impacts company productivity, leading to increased workloads for existing staff and the potential delays in key projects.

To combat this challenge, employers need to rethink their hiring strategies. This is where effective career and succession pipelines can really pay dividends.

What are career and succession pipelines?

Now, the term might seem a little abstract or even a just another bit of HR jargon at first, but it’s actually a lot simpler than it sounds!

Career and succession pipelines are frameworks that help companies nurture and develop talent from within to meet both immediate and future organisational needs. Career pipelines focus on career progression, skill-building, and personal growth. Succession pipelines, on the other hand, specifically address preparing candidates to step into critical roles when needed.

When managed correctly, these pipelines function as an integrated ecosystem that aligns talent development with strategic workforce planning – leaving any business prepared for virtually any workforce eventuality.

They’re not just for the corporate big guns!

Any decent retention strategy should have effective career and succession pipelines at its core. But, they’re often overlooked because immediate business needs and short-term targets take priority.

When companies focus primarily on urgent tasks, they may neglect the long-term benefits of developing their existing talent pool. Plus, it’s also the case that career and succession pipelines are mistakenly thought of as only for large corporations. However, the reality is that businesses of all sizes can benefit from implementing these strategies, and can become more resilient to external challenges, too.

So, where to start? If your business has not given its careers and succession pipelines the love they deserve, here are 8 steps to success.

1. Identifying key roles in your business for succession

Is your business in a niche or specialist industry sector? Has it always found it challenging to recruit new hires with the right skillsets your company needs? Or are there roles which you simply cannot afford to be without for any serious length of time? If so, start identifying the key roles which would benefit from a defined succession plan.

These roles might include executive positions, specialised technical roles, or roles central to operational success. So, using a framework such as a Nine-Box Grid (a performance versus potential matrix) will help prioritise high-value roles and employees with the potential to fill them.

Ask yourself:

• Which roles, if left vacant, would disrupt operations?
• Where is talent scarcest, and which roles are hard to fill externally?
• What roles align closely with the company’s strategic objectives?

Of course, not every position your business may require a succession plan, but for key roles, it’s a smart move to have a backup ready before you actually need one!

Top tip: Incorporate input from your department heads and use data on employee retention and market scarcity to create a more well-rounded view of your company’s high-priority roles.

2. Assessing your organisation’s internal talent

With your key roles identified, the next step is assessing your current workforce to identify potential successors and employees with growth potential. This is where having effective performance management processes in place will be a real asset, as you’ll likely have vital information from activities such as regular performance evaluations, 360-degree feedback or annual skills assessments. Together, these can all provide vital insights into who is ready for advancement.

Two essential elements of talent assessment include:

• Performance: Look at your historical performance data, such as KPI achievements, adaptability, and contributions to team success.
• Potential: Determine employees’ readiness and capacity for growth, including their ability to take on more complex responsibilities or leadership roles.

Top tip: Avoid making decisions based solely on current performance. Instead, look to play the long game and assess qualities like adaptability, growth mindset, and learning agility to gauge potential.

3. Creating development pathways

Development pathways are critical for both career and succession pipelines. These ensure employees are prepared to step up when the need arises and are capable of becoming the employee your company really needs. Development plans can include a variety of learning opportunities, from formal education and certifications to mentorship and cross-departmental projects.

Key elements of an effective development pathway include:

• Role-specific skills: Identify skills essential to each position and design training programs to bridge gaps.
• Soft skills: Leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence are increasingly valuable for most roles. Workshops, coaching, and feedback systems are great ways to foster these skills.
• Experiential learning: Giving employees ‘stretch assignments’ that challenge them to operate outside their comfort zone encourages hands-on learning and accelerates growth.

Top tip: A modern LMS can help tailor pathways to each individual’s learning style and specific career goals. It can also help in planning and make learning more accessible and engaging for all.

4. Engage your employees in the process

An effective pipeline requires buy-in from the very employees it seeks to develop. Engaged employees are more motivated to take ownership of their growth and contribute actively to the company’s success. So, be transparent about the career paths available, communicate expectations, and provide resources for employees to succeed.

How to boost engagement with your employees:

• Implement Individual Development Plans (IDPs): Collaborate with employees to create personalised development plans that align with both their career goals and the organisation’s needs.
• Regular performance check-ins: Encourage your line managers to have frequent discussions about their employee’s career progress and readiness. This will give your employees confidence in their future with the company.
• Celebrate milestones: Recognising progress and achievements, such as completing a training programme or leading a project, helps maintain engagement and motivation.

Top tip: Implementing regular feedback loops within your employee’s development plans allows them to feel their contributions are valued and heard, reinforcing their commitment to the company.

5. Nurture a culture of continuous learning

A strong culture of continuous learning supports both career growth and succession by encouraging employees to expand their skills proactively. Continuous learning goes beyond mandatory training; it’s about creating an environment where employees are encouraged to seek knowledge, experiment, and embrace growth.

The building blocks for an effective learning culture include:

• Accessible learning resources: Offering a modern learning management system (LMS) with courses, certifications and articles makes development more convenient and engaging.
• On-the-job training: Implement learning directly tied to day-to-day activities. Shadowing, mentoring and regular feedback can transform daily tasks into learning opportunities.
• Incentivising learning: Recognise and reward employees who engage in learning activities. This could be through certifications, informal ‘shout outs’ or even financial incentives.

For a more in-depth look at how you can turn your business into a learning organisation, just follow this link.

6. Monitoring and adapting your pipelines

Once your career and succession pipelines are in place, regular monitoring is essential. After all, business conditions can change quickly, so your pipelines should never remain static!

Metrics like promotion rates, internal mobility and employee engagement scores will give you a better understanding of your pipeline’s effectiveness and indicate areas needing improvement. In addition, quarterly or semi-annual reviews can help assess these metrics, ensuring pipelines stay aligned with evolving business needs.

Key metrics to monitor include:

• Time to fill: How long it takes your business to fill critical positions internally.
• Promotion and retention rates: High promotion rates within pipelines can indicate healthy growth opportunities and satisfaction from within your workforce.
• Skills development: Track which skills are acquired and developed over time, and adjust training based on gaps or changes in industry demands.

Top tip: Remember to encourage flexibility in your pipeline design. Talent needs may shift due to factors like market conditions, changes in technology, or strategic goals – so it pays to be flexible.

7. Avoid common pitfalls

Even the best-designed career and succession pipelines can face challenges. Here’s some common pitfalls you may encounter and how to overcome them:

• Relying on gut instincts: Avoid the trap of selecting successors based solely on subjective opinions. Instead, use data-backed insights and structured evaluations to guide your decisions.
• Neglecting diversity: Pipelines that overlook diverse talent pools risk perpetuating homogeneity and can stifle ingenuity. So, ensure equal access to development programmes and actively seek diversity in succession planning.
• Lack of communication: If employees are unaware of career opportunities, they may become disengaged or leave the company. You can avoid this by communicating openly and frequently about career paths and succession plans in your business.

Top tip: Regularly solicit feedback from employees at all levels to identify and address pipeline challenges early.

8. Aligning your career and succession pipelines with organisational goals

Lastly, successful career and succession pipelines must support your organisation’s broader strategic goals. This requires consistent alignment between HR and executive leadership to ensure talent planning is responsive to business objectives.

Key strategies for alignment with organisational goals:

• Annual strategic reviews: Use annual reviews to adjust pipeline priorities based on shifting business needs or changes in organisational strategy.
• Scenario planning: Forecast potential future scenarios to identify which roles might emerge as critical, ensuring the pipeline remains future-focused.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Involve multiple departments in planning to ensure alignment across different functions and levels.

Top tip: Integrate succession and career planning into regular business reviews, keeping pipelines responsive to the company’s trajectory.

Ultimately, getting career and succession pipelines right supports a resilient workforce, empowering employees to grow with the organisation and securing your company’s future success.