Succession Planning and Talent Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partners, Talent Management Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-031

Before you join: Participants should have practical familiarity with performance management, employee development, workforce planning or people-management responsibilities.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Succession planning fails when organisations treat it as a confidential list of replacement names rather than a disciplined process for protecting critical roles, building capable talent pools and making fair decisions. Weak performance evidence, unclear potential criteria, inconsistent manager judgement and poor follow-through can leave banks, public bodies, multinationals and NGOs exposed when senior specialists or leaders leave. A sound approach links business priorities, workforce risks, role requirements, talent assessment, development investment and governance.

This course equips participants to design and operate a practical succession and talent management system. Participants examine critical-role identification, strategic workforce planning, performance management, potential assessment, Nine-Box Grid discussions, succession slates, readiness horizons, development planning and talent review governance. They learn how to distinguish performance from potential, conduct evidence-based calibration, assess bench strength, manage confidentiality and monitor fairness in nominations, assessment and development access.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with sector-based cases, group analysis, simulated talent review discussions and application planning. Participants work with realistic workforce data, replacement-chart information, performance evidence and development scenarios. Each participant leaves with a structured succession and talent management implementation pack containing templates, decision criteria, metrics and a 90-day application plan. The course is available as a five-day classroom programme in 50+ cities or live online, with a certificate of completion.

The course suits HR professionals, business leaders and managers who already contribute to performance, development or workforce decisions and now need a consistent method for identifying and preparing future talent.

What you will be able to do

  • Design a succession planning framework linked to critical roles and workforce priorities
  • Identify critical roles using value, scarcity, risk and time-to-readiness criteria
  • Build calibrated performance and potential assessments using defined evidence standards
  • Conduct talent review discussions using Nine-Box Grid, readiness and bench-strength data
  • Apply structured development methods to close successor capability and experience gaps
  • Create governance arrangements for confidential, fair and accountable talent decisions
  • Use talent metrics to monitor coverage, internal mobility, readiness and development progress
  • Develop a phased implementation plan for a succession and talent management process

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Lead evidence-based talent review discussions with greater confidence
  • Distinguish high performance from future potential using defined criteria
  • Produce credible successor slates and readiness assessments for critical roles
  • Improve career and development conversations with high-potential employees
  • Build a practical 90-day plan for improving talent decisions at work

For your organisation

  • Reduced disruption from unplanned departures in critical and specialist roles
  • Clearer visibility of successor coverage, readiness gaps and single-incumbent risks
  • More consistent performance and potential decisions across business units
  • Better targeted development spend for priority talent pools and future roles
  • Stronger internal mobility through transparent development and appointment processes

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the purpose, operating model and governance requirements of a talent management system.

  • Workforce segmentation distinguishes pivotal roles from broadly deployable positions
  • Talent management architecture connects strategy, workforce plans, performance, development and succession
  • Build a talent philosophy defining differentiation, transparency, mobility and decision rights
  • Operating-model choices assign accountabilities to executives, managers, HR and employees
  • Governance forums establish escalation routes, evidence requirements and approval thresholds
  • Ethical principles address confidentiality, fairness, consent and conflicts of interest

Participants can identify roles that require succession coverage and quantify associated workforce risks.

  • Strategic workforce planning translates business scenarios into capability and role demand
  • Critical-role criteria combine value creation, scarcity, risk and time-to-readiness
  • Position risk mapping rates vacancy impact, retirement exposure and single-incumbent dependency
  • Role profiles specify outcomes, technical requirements, leadership behaviours and future shifts
  • Talent pools distinguish feeder roles, emergency cover and longer-term successor populations
  • Vacancy scenarios test operational continuity under planned and unplanned departures

Participants can use consistent performance evidence and calibration methods to support talent decisions.

  • Performance-management cycle aligns objectives, check-ins, evidence, ratings and development actions
  • SMART objectives translate strategic priorities into observable individual and team commitments
  • OKRs separate committed performance measures from aspirational improvement outcomes
  • Behaviourally anchored rating scales reduce ambiguity in manager performance judgements
  • Calibration meetings compare evidence, standards and rating distributions across teams
  • Document performance conversations using SBI feedback and agreed follow-through actions
  • Address rating bias, recency effects, halo effects and leniency patterns

Participants can assess potential consistently and place employees in appropriate talent segments.

  • Potential criteria assess ability, aspiration, engagement and learning agility
  • Nine-Box Grid positions talent using calibrated performance and potential evidence
  • Assessment centres combine simulations, structured observation and trained assessor scoring
  • Structured interviews use behavioural indicators, anchored questions and consistent scoring
  • 360-degree feedback identifies leadership patterns through multi-rater evidence
  • Talent review dossiers distinguish current performance from future role capacity
  • Mitigate affinity bias, confirmation bias and adverse-impact risks in assessment

Participants can create successor slates, assess readiness and identify coverage gaps for critical roles.

  • Succession planning starts with role-specific successor requirements and readiness definitions
  • Successor slates identify ready-now, ready-soon and future-potential candidates
  • Readiness horizons distinguish emergency replacement from short-, medium- and long-term coverage
  • Bench-strength metrics calculate successor depth, readiness mix and coverage gaps
  • Replacement charts record incumbents, successors, risk factors and development priorities
  • Confidential succession protocols protect personal data and sensitive leadership decisions
  • Board reporting presents succession risk, diversity indicators and intervention decisions

Participants can build targeted development plans that improve successor readiness and internal mobility.

  • Individual development plans link target roles, gaps, actions and evidence
  • 70:20:10 development mixes experience, relationships and formal learning
  • Stretch assignments build capability through scope, ambiguity, stakeholder and delivery demands
  • Mentoring and sponsorship serve different purposes in advancement and visibility
  • Action learning sets address live business problems with peer challenge
  • Developmental feedback converts assessment findings into measurable behaviour-change commitments
  • Career conversations clarify mobility preferences, constraints and next-role aspirations

Participants can run disciplined talent reviews and monitor whether decisions produce intended results.

  • Talent review agendas sequence evidence, challenge, decisions and follow-up ownership
  • RACI matrices define accountability for nominations, assessments, development and appointments
  • Decision logs record rationale, dissent, actions, dates and accountable owners
  • Data-quality checks test completeness, consistency, currency and access permissions
  • HR dashboards track internal fill rate, turnover and successor readiness
  • ISO 30414 metrics frame selected human-capital disclosures and data definitions
  • Meeting protocols manage confidentiality, conflicts and disclosure boundaries

Participants can identify fairness, accessibility and privacy risks within succession and talent processes.

  • Adverse-impact analysis compares selection rates across relevant demographic groups
  • Four-fifths rule flags potential selection-rate disparities requiring further investigation
  • Accessibility considerations remove assessment barriers without altering essential role criteria
  • Structured criteria reduce informal sponsorship effects and opaque advancement decisions
  • Pay and opportunity reviews identify unequal access to development investments
  • Data minimisation limits sensitive talent information to justified business purposes
  • Communication plans explain processes, decisions, privacy boundaries and appeal routes

Participants can define the data, controls and reporting needed to support talent management decisions.

  • HRIS data models connect position, person, performance, potential and readiness records
  • Talent dashboards distinguish leading indicators from lagging succession outcomes
  • Data dictionaries standardise metric definitions, sources, owners and refresh cycles
  • Access-control matrices assign viewing and editing rights by decision role
  • Algorithmic screening requires explainability, human review and bias monitoring
  • Retention schedules govern talent-record storage, deletion and audit evidence
  • Build a minimum viable dataset before selecting talent technology

Participants can plan a phased rollout that embeds succession and talent management into business routines.

  • Current-state diagnostics identify process gaps, stakeholder concerns and adoption barriers
  • Phased roadmaps sequence policy design, pilots, rollout and review milestones
  • Change-impact assessments identify affected groups, new behaviours and support requirements
  • Manager enablement plans specify briefing, guidance, tools and accountability measures
  • Pilot evaluation compares participation, decision quality, fairness and operational outcomes
  • Implementation scorecards track milestones, risks, owners and corrective actions
  • Personal application plans define first actions, stakeholders and 90-day measures

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Critical-role identification and risk-assessment template
  2. Nine-Box Grid calibration guide
  3. Successor slate and readiness assessment model
  4. Individual development plan template
  5. Talent review governance and decision-log checklist
  6. 90-day succession implementation plan

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partners — need to translate business priorities into talent and succession decisions
  • Talent Management Managers — design and run talent review, assessment and development processes
  • Learning and Development Managers — align development investment with successor readiness gaps
  • HR Directors — establish governance, metrics and accountability for enterprise talent decisions
  • Department Heads — identify critical roles and prepare credible successor pipelines
  • People Managers — conduct fair performance, potential and career discussions with employees

Skills and tools covered

Succession planningTalent calibrationPotential assessmentBench-strength analysisDevelopment planningTalent governance

Tools and standards

Nine-Box Grid, 70:20:10 development model, RACI matrix, ISO 30414

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work drawn from leadership, specialist-role and workforce-risk situations. Participants analyse role data, performance evidence, potential assessments and successor information in small groups. Simulated talent review discussions develop calibration, challenge and decision-recording skills. Group exercises test how governance, fairness and confidentiality affect real decisions. Individual application planning converts the methods into actions, measures and stakeholder conversations for the participant's own organisation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with performance management, employee development, workforce planning or people-management responsibilities. They should understand their organisation's reporting lines, key roles and current appraisal process, even if these are informal or inconsistent. Experience of attending performance reviews or discussing employee development is useful. No previous succession planning qualification, HR analytics expertise, psychometric certification or specialist legal knowledge is required. The course explains the core methods and uses structured templates suitable for participants from HR and operational leadership roles.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic performance management or have experience as an HR practitioner or people manager. No prior succession planning course, psychometric qualification or HR analytics background is required.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible, plus non-confidential examples of your current performance, talent or succession process. Participants should not bring identifiable employee records, ratings or sensitive succession information.

It is designed for HR business partners, talent and learning specialists, HR leaders, department heads and experienced people managers. It is particularly useful for those responsible for critical roles, talent reviews or leadership pipelines.

Performance management courses focus mainly on objectives, feedback, ratings and manager conversations. This course includes those foundations but extends them into potential assessment, succession coverage, successor development, talent governance and workforce risk.

Participants can use the templates to identify critical roles, assess succession coverage and structure a talent review meeting. The 90-day application plan helps convert the course methods into agreed actions with HR and business stakeholders.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The programme progresses through ten modules, combining briefings, cases, group analysis, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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