Measuring success:
“did we follow the plan?”
Succession planning success in financial services organisations often came down to retention.
As one HR leader said: “we measure the conversion rate of identified successors to roles filled – did we follow the plan.”
Others used similar methods to measure success. “We measure long-term staffing forecasts against actual placements,” a People Officer said. “Success is measured by who was appointed from the pipeline, then tracking their progress,” another told us. Time spent in the role was also used as a metric, along with the impact of their leadership. Others measured success based on the number of “ready now” candidates they had within the organisation.
In addition to retention, many interviewees told us meeting internal mobility and DE&I goals were a success metric – in particular, achieving gender and nationality representation.
Only two HR leaders told us they did not measure success. Of similar note, only one person discussed the success of the appointed successor after their appointment.
While methods of measurement are in use, it is clear from our interviews there is over-emphasis on the planning in succession planning, with far less attention given to measuring success. Given the growing imperative and evolving nature of succession planning, embedding continuous learning and improvement is essential. This can only be achieved by evaluating plans and identifying what success looks like.