What Succession Planning Really Is

Succession planning is a business continuity discipline, not just a human resources exercise. It helps organizations reduce risk when key people leave, retire, are promoted, or become unavailable unexpectedly.

In this lesson, we define what succession planning really is, what it is not, and why it matters to performance, resilience, and long-term leadership capacity. We also distinguish succession planning from replacement planning and talent management so you can use the right approach for the right business problem.