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Human Resources vocabulary · HR Roles & Workforce Planning

Succession planning

Meaning in human resources, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In human resources, succession planning means: Identifying and preparing employees who could take over important jobs when the people in them leave, retire or are promoted.

In Turkish: yedekleme planlaması, halef planlaması

How it is used

Used mainly for leadership and critical roles. HR and senior managers identify successors, often marked as 'ready now' or 'ready in two years', and give them development plans.

Example sentences

  1. Succession planning showed that nobody was ready to replace the plant manager.

  2. We review succession planning for all director roles once a year.

Common collocations

  • succession planning process
  • succession plan
  • identify successors
  • talent review
  • workforce planningAnalysing the staff an organisation has now and the people and skills it will need in the future, then planning how to close the gap.
  • career pathThe series of jobs and levels a person can move through in an organisation or profession as they gain skills and experience.
  • retentionAn organisation's ability to keep its employees, especially valued ones, and the actions it takes to stop them from leaving.
  • learning and developmentThe part of HR that plans and organises training, courses and other ways for employees to build their skills and careers.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: HR Roles & Workforce Planning

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