For a succession plan to be effective there is always the need for the organization to develop practices that focus on the role of the plan in the context of a specific organization. The first major aspect in adopting succession planning as a process would be to view the plan as a strategy or a need rather than a step (Maidment, 2005). Such a move allows all the parties in the organization to be aware of its existence, which further widens the scope on those individuals that will be selected to the specific job roles. An organization also needs to develop its own platform of stages, which should be broken down towards the specific target requirements that they are looking from the candidates (Maurer & Weeks, 2010).
According to DuBrin (2014), the first phase is the initiation phase where the organization launches the plan into the organizations systems. Initiation should be embraced in the form of an introduction where all the parties in an organization are allowed to participate with specific objectives being introduced in the organizations. Some of the objectives would be the creation of a leadership atmosphere where individuals nurture one another making it a learning experience for all the parties. The selection phases should follow with the objective being to narrow down to specific individuals that are deemed fit to hold the position. An organization can always choose to mentor more than one individual even though only one will be chose for the top position.
The last two phases as Dhar (2008) notes are the education and the transition phases. Under education, the organization inculcates knowledge to the chosen parties allowing them to learn all essential aspects and the needs of the organization. In effect, the education phase strengthens the organization systems and processes as well as it inculcates knowledge to the candidates. The transition phase is often viewed as the exit strategy of the predecessor and allowing the successor to take over the job position. Transition should be slow and gradual with extensive consultations being part of the phase. Once the successor takes over, the grooming of a new one can start again (Charan, Drotter & Noel, 2011).
