Succession planning ensures that the right people, with the right skills and motivation, are in the right positions, at the right time.
EANE brings expertise not only in succession management, but also in competency management, employee assessment, training, coaching, performance management and total rewards systems. This enables you to access the elements you need, whether it’s one or many, and know the results will be an integrated program that delivers on your business objectives.
Our comprehensive succession planning services can satisfy both short- and long-term business needs. It’s all about developing individuals for key positions to ensure ongoing, effective performance.
What Succession Planning Gives You
A good succession plan does several things for your organization:
- Continuity when leaders move on, whether it’s a planned retirement, a recruiter call you didn’t see coming, or an unexpected departure
- A clear way to identify, develop, and retain your high performers before they get poached or burned out
- Better alignment between who you promote and where the business is headed, so leadership decisions reflect strategy
- A common standard for what “ready” looks like, with regular reviews of your existing talent
- Real metrics you can show your board or leadership team that prove the plan is working
- More transparency for employees on how leadership decisions get made, which strengthens engagement and reduces turnover among the people you most want to keep
How EANE Approaches Succession Planning
1. Map the roles that would hurt most if they were open tomorrow. Not just the C-suite. The operations lead, the controller, the lead engineer, the head of customer success. Anywhere institutional knowledge or critical relationships sit with one person.
2. Honestly assess who’s ready, who’s developing, and where the gaps are. We use validated assessment tools, 360-degree feedback, and structured conversations to give you a clear read of your talent.
3. Build development plans that fit your reality. Targeted training, executive coaching, stretch assignments, and cross-functional exposure, focused on what your organization can support.
4. Review the plan and adjust as the business changes. We help you build a quarterly review rhythm that keeps the plan alive between strategic moments.
Where Succession Planning Fits in Your Bigger HR Picture
Succession planning isn’t a standalone project. It connects to almost everything else you do in HR, and the plan only works if those pieces are aligned.
- Leadership development — Our training programs build the skills your high-potential employees need before you promote them. The succession plan tells us who to develop. The leadership development tells us how.
- Executive coaching — Our team coaches successors through the transition into bigger roles.
- Recruiting — When the internal team can’t fill a role, our recruiting team can help find the right outside hire, with full context on the succession plan so the new leader fits the role and the path forward.
- HR Business Partners — Ongoing strategic HR support with quarterly check-ins and updates to the development plans.
- Talent Strategy Assessment — Sometimes the right starting point is an honest assessment on your overall talent strategy before we get into succession specifics.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does succession planning take?
A first plan typically takes 60 to 120 days from kickoff to a working document. The plan itself is then a living document that should be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
What does it cost?
It depends on the scope, the size of the organization, and how much development support you want bundled in. We’ll walk through pricing on the first call once we understand what you’re trying to solve.
Do we have to be an EANE member to work with you on this?
No. Succession planning is available to members and non-members. Members get preferred pricing. Non-members can purchase the service directly.
We’re a small organization with no obvious successors. Can you still help?
Yes. That’s actually one of the most common starting points. Part of the work is deciding, honestly, where to develop, where to recruit, and where to restructure. Sometimes the answer is to develop a successor. Sometimes the answer is to hire one. Sometimes the answer is split the role.
How does this connect to our leadership development efforts?
The succession plan tells us who to develop. The leadership development programs tell us how. If you’ve already run our training and development programs, we’ll plug succession into the development pathway you already have.
Can you help with family-business succession dynamics?
Yes, with the caveat that family-business succession often involves legal, tax, and ownership questions that fall outside of what we do. We’ll handle the leadership and talent piece and connect you with the right legal and financial advisors for the rest.