Succession planning: it’s never too early to start!

Start thinking about succession planning as soon as possible: that was the key message from operators at our February Community Building Session. 

It can be challenging enough to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of busy services, yet our three speakers all emphasised the need to take a step back and consider potential departures from the staff team and board, and the impact that these could have on the organisation. 

Fitzroy Dawson, from Merton Community Transport, encouraged us to visualise changes. “What does succession planning look like – take a picture of the future from everyone’s perspective. Your future leaders may already be working for the organisation - coach and empower your staff to grow by having a staff development plan.”

In addition to staff succession planning, Michelle Harries from Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations outlined how useful a board skills audit can be in helping to identify the skills and experience on the board, and where the gaps are, information that can be useful for the next trustee recruitment process. “There will be a massive amount of knowledge of community transport within the staff team, so consider how the board can reflect a wider skill-set. Being creative and open to new methods of trustee recruitment can increase the diversity of people on your board.”

Succession planning is about practical processes and ensuring business continuity but it also more than that, as Wil Parry from O Ddrws i Ddrws explained. “It’s not just about changes in personnel, it’s about maintaining the charity’s integrity, values and core aims.”

There were invaluable contributions from those speaking and those attending the session – one point that came across strongly was that succession planning discussions need to be approached with sensitivity. It can be hard to ‘let go’, especially as our sector is built on the passion and dedication of individuals who always go above and beyond in delivering community transport services. 

Having a succession plan provides a structured process to have these conversations and reduces concerns about ‘what if...’ scenarios, such as ‘what if our Chair becomes ill and steps down overnight’ or ‘what if our experienced Coordinator, who has been here for 15 years, retires?’ 

The Community Building Session saw the launch of our new Succession Planning toolkit which outlines practical steps alongside sample templates and forms that could be adapted to your organisation. 

The toolkit was developed based on conversations with operators, and we are very grateful to all those who generously shared their own experiences of succession planning. As one operator said, “I want to hand over a healthy organisation and see it thrive, even if I’m not there.”

The toolkit can be found in our Advice and Resources here.

Michelle Clarke, Wales Deputy Director and Emma Bingham, Wales Development Manager