Succession Planning

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SOLUTIONS

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SUCCESSION PLANNING

Build Your Leadership Pipeline with Succession Planning

Succession planning isn’t just about filling leadership roles—it’s about building a sustainable leadership pipeline at all levels. Yet organizations often don’t focus on succession plans until a key leader suddenly leaves.

Our research shows that 80% of organizations lack confidence in their leadership pipeline, and half of external executive hires fail. When employees leave, companies often make rushed decisions about replacements without confidence that these individuals are truly ready.

An effective succession strategy depends on strong internal development, which creates organizational resilience, reduces costly transitions, and preserves valuable institutional knowledge. Investing in leaders' growth today ensures you won't have to guess who's ready—you'll know.

By the Numbers

Benefits of a High-Quality Succession Planning Strategy


3.5X More Likely

 to be recognized as a most admired company.

DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025

2.9X More Likely

 to achieve high internal promotion success rates.

DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025

2.8X More Likely

to outperform industry peers financially.

DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Building Your Bench: A Succession Solution for Emerging Executives

Emerging and current executives play a critical role in creating and translating strategy into results. DDI’s succession planning solution, Building Your Bench, is designed to accelerate leadership growth, ensuring your future senior leaders are ready to take on greater responsibility.

With a data-driven approach, immersive development experiences, and expert coaching, this solution helps you assess, grow, and sustain your talent bench.

Download the Solution Overview

Assess

Gain deep insight into leadership potential with a business simulation that evaluates strengths, growth areas, and readiness for executive roles.

Grow

Develop critical leadership skills and deepen self-awareness with high-impact group experiences and individual coaching.

Sustain

Ensure long-term success with a strategic review of talent data, targeted recommendations, and support for executive teams.

I didn’t have a true sense of the executive culture and how to thrive and succeed. This helped me understand the top priorities of my new role.

Leader in a DDI Succession Program

Group of people sitting at a computer and candidly discussing succession planning.

3.7X

MORE LIKELY

High-potential talent is 3.7x more likely to leave without development.

Global Leadership Forecast 2025

INVEST IN YOUR LEADERS

Move High Potentials Forward, or They'll Move on

High-potential leaders are critical to future business success. But when growth stalls and the path forward isn’t clear, your top talent will move on. DDI helps you identify the right leaders early and prepare them to rise to new levels. From the first signs of leadership potential to emerging executives, we build targeted development experiences that move high-potential leaders forward.

Grow Your Talent Pool
leadership pipeline model shows the leadership levels to consider when succession planning, from emerging leaders, frontline leaders, and mid-level leaders to senior leaders and the c-level?fm=webp&q=65

Navigate Complex Executive Transitions with Confidence

Succession planning at the executive level is a complex and high-stakes process. These transitions can significantly impact your company’s future and require a strategic, data-driven approach. Simply planning to replace existing leaders with those who mirror them isn’t enough—organizations need leaders who can adapt, innovate, and drive long-term success.

With DDI by your side, we’ll help you build a comprehensive succession strategy tailored to your business needs. From identifying the right leaders to providing expert coaching for a seamless transition, we ensure your organization is prepared for the future.

Explore Executive Assessments

Animated organizational chart to show succession plans, with icons of people, showing green for ready now leaders, yellow for almost ready, and red for not ready?fm=webp&q=65

Stop Guessing. Start Building Data-Driven Succession Plans.

Without data, succession planning becomes an expensive guessing game. DDI assessments replace assumptions with validated data and rich insights so you can identify the right leaders to deliver on your priorities. The result? A fair, objective approach to promotion decisions, a stronger leadership pipeline, and the agility to face new business challenges.

See Your Leaders Clearly

Have a Question?

Frequently Asked Questions About Succession Planning

  • What is succession planning?

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    Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing the right people to step into critical leadership roles when you need them. Unlike replacement planning, which focuses on simply backfilling roles, succession planning builds a long-term pipeline of high-potential talent who can take on broader responsibilities with support.

  • Why is succession planning important for organizations?

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    Succession planning is important for organizations because it builds leadership continuity, preserves company culture, and reduces disruptions. By preparing leaders for more complex roles, organizations build resilience and sustain performance. When organizations neglect succession plans, they risk leadership gaps, loss of top talent, instability, and stalled business results.

  • Who should be included in succession planning?

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    Succession planning should focus on critical roles across all leadership levels. The process involves HR, talent management, and L&D, along with business leaders and managers who identify and develop employees to align with future business needs.

  • When should organizations start succession planning?

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    Organizations should start succession planning early—before leadership gaps even emerge. Developing leaders for more complex roles takes time to assess capabilities, target development, and prepare for transitions. Starting early helps organizations grow the right talent so they’re prepared when critical roles open.

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