10 Succession Planning Examples for the Workplace

Succession planning makes sense in theory. Identify important roles, find employees who could eventually fill them and prepare those employees before a vacancy occurs.

The harder question is what that actually looks like in the workplace.

A strong succession plan does more than name a possible replacement. It identifies what the future role requires. It also evaluates the employee against those requirements and gives them opportunities to close their most important gaps.

Below, we'll walk through 10 succession planning examples for different roles. We'll also look at several succession planning program examples that organizations can adapt to their own needs.

What does succession planning look like in practice?

Consider a company with a high-performing sales manager who could eventually become a sales director.

A basic replacement plan might simply list that person as the likely successor.

A succession plan goes further. The company might determine that the future role requires stronger strategic planning skills and experience managing managers. The employee could then lead an annual planning initiative and mentor another manager.

Leadership would periodically review the employee's progress before changing their readiness status.

That distinction is important. Being identified as a potential successor is the beginning of development, not the end of the succession planning process.

Organizations can use tools such as the 9-box grid to compare performance and potential. But the assessment should also consider competencies and actual experience.

Here are several examples of how that process can work for different positions.

1. Frontline manager to director

A successful frontline manager may be excellent at running a team without yet being ready to manage an entire department.

A succession plan for a future director should therefore test whether the employee can operate at a broader level.

Potential development areas:

• Strategic planning
• Financial management
• Cross-functional leadership
• Developing other managers

During the first six months, the manager might take responsibility for a cross-functional improvement initiative. They could also begin participating in budget planning.

Later, they might lead part of the department's annual planning process or temporarily oversee another team.

Before classifying the employee as "ready now," leadership should look for evidence that the person can manage through other leaders instead of relying primarily on their own individual execution.

A 360-degree feedback process can help assess how peers and other employees experience the manager's leadership as their scope increases.

2. Senior software engineer to tech lead

Technical succession planning does not have to involve people management.

For example, a senior engineer may be a possible successor for a tech lead role. The employee may already have exceptional technical skills while needing more experience influencing engineering decisions across a team.

Their succession plan could begin with ownership of an important architecture review. They might also mentor other engineers.

Next, the employee could coordinate a project involving several engineers without formal management authority. The assignment tests whether they can communicate tradeoffs and keep work moving through others.

Eventually, the employee might serve as tech lead for a major release.

The succession decision should be based on evidence of technical leadership rather than simply assuming the strongest engineer will make the strongest tech lead.

3. Sales representative to account manager

Moving from new-business sales to account management requires a different set of strengths.

A salesperson may be excellent at closing deals but have limited experience managing relationships over several years.

Their succession plan might start with shadowing strategic account reviews. The employee could then create account plans for several existing customers.

As they develop, they might take responsibility for a handful of lower-risk accounts. That gives the company an opportunity to evaluate relationship management and renewal planning before making a permanent move.

Eventually, the employee could manage a representative portfolio independently.

The goal is to create progressively stronger evidence that the employee can perform the future job.

Organizations can use development goals to turn these kinds of readiness gaps into measurable actions.

4. Account manager to sales manager

One of the most common succession planning examples in the workplace is preparing a strong individual contributor for their first management position.

The biggest risk is assuming that strong sales performance automatically indicates management potential.

Instead, give the employee opportunities to demonstrate management skills before promotion.

For example, the account manager could coach two sales representatives. They might also facilitate a pipeline meeting or participate in candidate interviews.

Over time, the employee could run selected team meetings and help other representatives create development plans.

A final stretch assignment might involve temporarily leading the team while the current manager is unavailable.

At that point, leadership has actual evidence of the employee's ability to coach and manage rather than relying on sales results alone.

5. Financial analyst to FP&A manager

A financial analyst preparing for an FP&A management position needs to move beyond producing accurate analysis.

The future role may require stronger business partnership and decision-making skills.

An initial succession plan could give the analyst responsibility for a forecasting workstream. Rather than simply preparing a variance report, they might present the findings directly to a business leader.

Next, the analyst could own the forecast for a business unit and facilitate a scenario-planning discussion.

Later, they might lead a major annual planning workstream.

Throughout the process, managers should evaluate whether the employee can turn financial analysis into useful recommendations for the business.

A formal employee development plan can document the gaps and development activities associated with the future position.

6. HR business partner to HR director

An HR business partner may already work closely with business leaders. Preparing that employee for an HR director position requires testing whether they can operate at a more strategic level.

The employee might begin by leading a workforce analysis for one function.

Next, they could take ownership of a talent review or advise a senior leader on an organizational challenge.

A later development assignment might give them responsibility for the workforce plan of an entire business unit.

Before promotion, leadership should look for evidence that the employee can independently advise senior executives and make sound people decisions at a larger scale.

7. Customer success manager to director of customer success

A high-performing customer success manager often succeeds by managing individual customer relationships extremely well.

A director needs to think about the entire customer portfolio.

That difference should drive the succession plan.

The CSM might begin by analyzing churn or renewal risk across a cohort of customers. They could also design an improvement to the team's customer-management process.

Later, the employee could own a retention plan for an entire segment and lead the team's risk-review cadence.

A final development stage might include temporary responsibility for a regional customer success operation.

The succession decision can then focus on whether the employee has moved from solving individual customer problems to improving the system used by the entire team.

8. Operations supervisor to operations manager

An operations supervisor may be exceptionally good at solving day-to-day problems.

An operations manager needs to create systems that prevent those problems from occurring in the first place.

A succession plan could begin with responsibility for a root-cause improvement project.

Next, the supervisor might own a broader capacity plan and participate in budget reviews.

As readiness increases, they could act as operations manager for a defined period. They might also take responsibility for developing another supervisor who could eventually replace them.

That last step is particularly valuable.

A healthy succession process should not simply move a talent gap from one level of the organization to another. Employees approaching promotion should begin building succession depth underneath themselves.

9. Product manager to director of product

The difference between product management and product leadership often comes down to scope.

A product manager may make excellent decisions about one product. A product director may need to allocate resources across an entire portfolio.

A succession plan could therefore give the employee responsibility for a multi-product strategic analysis.

Later, they might lead portfolio-level roadmap decisions or facilitate a strategy review involving multiple departments.

They could also begin mentoring another product manager.

Before determining that the employee is ready, senior leaders should evaluate whether they can make tradeoffs across products rather than advocating primarily for the area they know best.

10. Finance director to CFO

Executive succession planning often requires a longer development period.

A finance director could be a strong CFO candidate while still lacking exposure to the board or enterprise-level capital decisions.

Their succession plan might initially focus on those specific gaps.

For example, the finance director could begin contributing to board materials and leading enterprise scenario analysis.

Later, the employee might present selected material directly to the board or lead a major investment review.

Eventually, they could deputize for the CFO on defined responsibilities.

Another important readiness signal is whether the finance director has developed someone who can take over their current responsibilities.

An executive candidate who cannot step away from their existing position may not yet be ready to move up.

A real company succession planning example: VCC Construction

Workplace succession planning does not always need to exist as a separate annual exercise.

VCC Construction provides one example.

VCC uses PerformYard to support function-specific performance reviews alongside 360 feedback and mid-year check-ins. Employees can also set goals throughout the year.

Most importantly from a succession standpoint, VCC uses the performance information it collects to identify high-potential employees and monitor their growth as potential future leaders.

You can read the full VCC Construction customer story.

The example highlights an important principle: succession planning becomes more useful when it is connected to the company's existing performance management process.

Managers already collect valuable information through employee reviews and development conversations. Succession planning can turn that historical information into a forward-looking development process.

How to build your own succession planning process

You don't need to create succession plans for every position at once.

Start by identifying the roles that would create significant business risk if they suddenly became vacant.

Next, define what success in those roles actually requires.

Then evaluate possible successors using evidence from performance reviews and development history. Identify the largest gaps between each employee's current capabilities and the future position.

Those gaps become the development plan.

As employees complete development activities, collect new evidence and reassess their readiness.

The process might look like this:

Critical role → success profile → candidate assessment → development plan → stretch experience → feedback → readiness review

Over time, the result is more useful than a spreadsheet listing names beside jobs. The organization develops a deeper pool of employees who have been intentionally prepared for future opportunities.

PerformYard can help connect these activities through performance reviews, feedback and goals. HR teams can then use reporting and 9-box visualizations to evaluate talent more consistently.

For organizations evaluating the technology needed to support this process, see our succession planning software buyer's guide.

Frequently asked questions about succession planning examples

What is an example of succession planning in the workplace?

One simple example would be preparing a sales representative to become an account manager. The employee could shadow account reviews before taking responsibility for several lower-risk customers. Managers would evaluate their performance and gradually increase their responsibilities before deciding whether they are ready for the full role.

What are some succession planning examples from companies?

VCC Construction is one example. The company uses performance reviews and feedback data in PerformYard to identify high-potential employees and monitor people who could become future leaders.

Companies can also build succession programs around critical positions, leadership talent pools or emergency backups depending on their needs.

What should a succession plan include?

A useful succession plan should identify the critical role and potential successors. It should also document each candidate's readiness and development needs.

Most importantly, the plan should identify the experiences that will help determine whether the employee can actually perform the future role.

What is the difference between a succession plan and a replacement plan?

A replacement plan primarily identifies who could step into a position when it becomes vacant.

Succession planning takes a longer-term approach. It identifies potential future talent and develops employees so they are prepared before an opening occurs.

How often should succession plans be reviewed?

There is no universal schedule, but succession planning should be recurring rather than a one-time exercise.

Many organizations can conduct formal talent reviews once or twice per year while checking development progress more frequently. Critical roles or employees actively preparing for near-term moves may require more frequent reviews.