Succession Planning Toolkit

All organizations must identify and develop future leaders for business continuity. As higher education institutions face rapid employee turnover and increasing market uncertainty, this is more critical than ever. Succession planning is the key to cultivating the next generation of leaders.

Succession planning involves identifying high-potential employees and building customized development plans to prepare them for continued growth. While often housed in HR, it is not HR’s responsibility alone. In fact, the most successful succession planning initiatives involve employees at every level, from executive leadership to frontline managers and staff.

Despite its importance, recent EAB surveys consistently reveal minimal succession planning in higher education. In 2022 and 2023, less than 16% of institutions had succession plans in place. Among large institutions, this figure is even lower at just 3%. When institutions do have these plans in place, they are typically informal and focus only on executive roles.

Many institutions have not started succession planning due to employee misconceptions about its purpose. Some employees view it as a tool that solely benefits the institution or have had negative experiences with the process. To overcome this, leadership teams must first articulate the case for succession planning, beginning with a clear definition and understanding of its purpose, benefits, and misconceptions, as outlined below.

Succession planning is:

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  Proactive career development

  Fast-tracks high-potential talent into leadership roles with targeted skill building.

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  Equitable evaluation

  Creates a merit-driven, transparent process to evaluate staff.

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  Continuous pipeline growth

  Aligns talent development with long-term goals, fueled by training and mentoring.

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  Focused on engagement and retention

  Keeps your best talent by offering clear paths to career advancement and development.

Succession planning is not:

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  Promotion guarantees

  Prepares high-potential talent for future roles, but roles still require a fair, competitive hiring process.

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  Only executive-focused

  Empowers high-potential talent across the institution to fill critical roles at all levels.

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  Solely identification

  Focuses on closing skill gaps with proactive growth plans, not just naming potential successors.

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  Replacement planning

  Builds a versatile talent pool ready to step into critical roles, ensuring institutional resilience.

Download EAB’s Succession Planning Toolkit below to unlock seven essential tools designed to address the most common challenges in traditional succession planning.

Download the Toolkit