Succession Planning
Better Assessment = Better Successors.
Most organisations know which roles would hurt most if an employee left. Far fewer could name or appoint a ready made successor for any of them. Succession planning helps close that gap, and works best when readiness is planned for, measured and not assumed.
We help you identify the critical roles that really matter, assess potential objectively, and build development support that moves people toward the next job proactively.
Based in Aberdeen, we work across Scotland, the UK and Internationally, on site or online.
The Problems We Are Asked to Solve
Arguably, the most common succession plans are a list of names in a spreadsheet that nobody has looked at or tested in ages. Successors who have never been assessed and evaluated are more succession hopes than succession plans.
Our Approach
A frequent mistake in succession planning is promoting the best performer in a current job into a job that may require something quite different. For example, technical excellence and leadership capability are not the same thing. The gap between them can be where expensive promotions go wrong.
We use objective psychometric assessment, structured 360 feedback and development centres to separate out the two. The conversation about who is ready for their next career step is then based on evidence, not opinion.
That matters most where it can be harder to be completely objective: the internal candidate everybody likes, or a quiet but brilliant employee who may be “under the radar”.
What We Offer
Most organisations start with one critical role and widen out with a proven approach.
Which roles would genuinely hurt most to lose, what each one actually requires, and where the real single points of failure may occur. Often fewer roles than people expect, and not always the most senior ones.
Psychometric assessment, structured 360 feedback and development centres used to judge readiness against the next role(s) not just the current one. This is the part most succession plans skip, and the part that makes them worth having.
An achievable development plan for each individual: what is the development gap, what would close it, by when. Coaching, mentoring or formal development, selected for the best individual fit for each employee.
We can facilitate sessions where the leadership team talks honestly about its key people, using a nine box grid format or similar. We help challenge assumptions that may go unexamined if everyone in the room thinks they already know everyone being discussed.
What Organisations Gain
Why White Cube
Assessment data, not coffee station chat or personal opinion, to back up judgement.
BPS member and EFPA Level 1 and 2 Occupational Test User for a wide range of assessments.
Plans right-sized and developed to suit each organisation and need.
We will tell you if we think there is no clear internal successor.
Assessment, development, coaching and mentoring support from one provider.
Succession planning conversations can be sensitive. We treat them confidentially.
FAQ
By assessing them objectively against what the next role requires, not how well they are doing in the current one. That usually means a mix of psychometric assessment, structured 360 Degree Feedback and a development centre. This provides in-depth evidence around both capability and potential.
Yes, and it is a common starting point. An objective assessment can help confirm the view, which is reassuring, or helps identify any specific development gaps, which can be more useful. Either way you should be better placed to make any decision based on evidence not instinct.
A facilitated conversation with your leadership team about the people in the business, typically mapped on a nine box grid. Some of the value we can provide is in the objective challenge: we ask awkward questions that may be hard to ask when everyone in the room knows the people being discussed.
Then it is better to know now. Knowing a role has no clear successor may change your strategy or tactics: you can either start developing someone with an extended duration, or you may want to plan to recruit. Both can be managed proactively. Starting to tackle this when a key person resigns can leave you exposed.
No. The roles that cause the most disruption may not necessarily be the most senior, but roles where one person holds in-depth knowledge nobody else has. This could be a technical specialist or critical operational role.
Let’s talk
Whether you need a single critical role covered by a capable back up, or a full talent succession plan review, we can help. Read our free How to Build a Succession Plan guide as a starting point.