There are several different things that your company can do to make the process of business succession planning that much easier.

Putting together your plan once is not enough as you must be able to revisit this on a regular basis and make potential changes as you see fit.  It’s much easier to craft a plan and make small changes as you go rather than having the entire company try to adapt in the event of a sudden owner departure.

Having a long term strategy will make transitions easier when a key individual does depart the company. Follow these tips to achieve maximum success with business succession planning.

1. Track potential successors. Use survey feedback to identify potential leaders who could serve the company in the future. Make sure you identify who has what in the form of critical competencies and attributes and skills.
2. Communicate with potential candidates. You should never promise them a position necessarily, but you can give them an idea that you are considering them for a future role. This gives them the opportunity to get the most out of training.
3. Have an emergency plan. This should be a disciplined step by step approach for training successors quickly an immediately in the event that a business owner is no longer able to do this.