The problem with internal succession planning
A recent Deloitte study found that only 14% of leaders feel confident in their organisation’s succession plan. For something as critical as leadership continuity, that number is alarmingly low.
If your organisation has a plan on paper but little confidence behind it, you’re not alone. And you’re right to question whether it’s enough.
Succession planning is still stuck in the past
Most leadership teams say they have a succession plan. However, more often than not, it’s a static list of names reviewed annually, based largely on internal perceptions.
It’s easy to say, “We’ve got it covered.” but harder to prove. When succession plans come under scrutiny, whether after a senior departure, a restructure, or a shift in strategy, that’s when the cracks appear.
That’s because traditional succession planning is often:
- Treated as a one-off exercise, not a living strategy
- Based mostly on internal reviews, not external comparisons
- Focused on current-state roles rather than future-state requirements
- Too slow and resource-heavy to be repeated often
And here’s the truth: a good plan last year may be a poor one today. Business needs change fast. Succession plans must keep up.
The missing piece: external benchmarking
Internal talent reviews are useful, but they often lack objectivity. They assess candidates through the lens of organisational culture, current team dynamics, and internal track records.
But what’s often missing is an external view: how do your internal successors compare to those outside the business? Can they scale? Would you hire them into the same role today if they weren’t already in the company?
External benchmarking gives you that perspective by:
- Defining what the future version of the role really looks like
- Comparing internal candidates with external talent in the market
- Highlighting capability gaps that internal assessments might miss
- Providing insight into how difficult (or easy) it would be to hire externally
- Supplying data on the size of the market, diversity and how common or rare certain skills are
It helps move the conversation from “Who feels ready?” to “Who is genuinely ready, and how do we know?”
The challenge: time and resources
The biggest reason businesses don’t do this more often? It’s traditionally been slow, costly, and manual.
Many HR teams are already stretched thin. Adding a layer of market analysis, competitor benchmarking, and role redesign to every succession plan just hasn’t been feasible until now.
The shift: AI and technology are changing the game
This is where things get exciting. Advances in talent intelligence technology, powered by AI, now make it possible to run external benchmarking across dozens of key roles quickly, affordably, and at scale.
You no longer need to choose between speed, depth, and coverage. With the right tools, you can have all three.
For example, at Savannah, we’ve built technology that lets organisations:
- Define future-state role profiles
- Benchmark internal candidates against real market data
- Assess readiness, risk, and recruitment difficulty
- Refresh succession plans regularly without draining resources
What used to take months and significant consulting spend can now be delivered in days. And it’s repeatable — which means succession planning can finally become what it was always meant to be: an ongoing, strategic process, not a yearly tick-box review.
What modern succession planning should look like
A strong leadership succession planning strategy today needs:
- A mix of internal and external candidates for every key role
- Role definitions aligned with future needs, not just history
- External benchmarking to give objectivity and credibility
- A repeatable process that adjusts as your business changes
- Scalable technology that reduces reliance on overburdened internal teams
From confidence gaps to clarity
Succession planning will always involve some level of uncertainty. But how much of that uncertainty is understood and accounted for is entirely within your control.
The combination of external insight and AI-enabled technology changes the equation. It brings a level of objectivity, scalability, and frequency that simply wasn’t possible a few years ago.
Boards and leadership teams don’t just want to see that a succession plan exists. They want to know it’s been tested. They want to know that it reflects the market, not just the mirror. They want confidence, and confidence comes from clarity.
If your succession planning still relies solely on internal views and outdated cycles, now is the time to rethink it.
Succession is too important to be based on assumptions. Let’s make it evidence-based, future-focused, and ready for whatever’s next.
Savannah’s platform MapX, is enabling organisations to create dynamic, future-proofed succession plans. Contact us for more information.
