Effective succession planning is important for any organization to ensure leadership continuity and continued excellence. For Magnet® purposes, the TL10 example asks us to choose two of four possible options to demonstrate succession planning in the organization. The choices are to demonstrate succession planning for the nurse manager role, the nurse assistant vice president (AVP)/director role, the APRN role, and the CNO role. Here are our tips that can be used to develop effective succession planning practices and to make any succession planning example as strong as possible.
- Differentiate Succession Planning from Mentoring
It is common for the nurse going through succession planning to have someone guide them throughout the process, but for our purposes in the TL10 examples, we’re really looking for how the organization itself supports the nurse to achieve whatever is necessary for their succession planning or make it easier to do so. In this way, the hospital is the “secret” main character of the story. For example, if the nurse needs a higher level degree in order to become eligible for a higher level leadership role, the hospital may support the nurse through tuition reimbursement. The hospital may also offer the nurse internal leadership courses free of charge. Networking is another good example. The hospital may send the nurse to leadership councils to make connections with nursing leaders, both new and experienced, or to an external convention like the annual Magnet Conference to gain new knowledge. Detailing such organizational support is important to separate this example from the TL9 Mentoring example.
- Incorporate Succession Planning into Performance Review
If you don’t yet have a formalized process for succession planning, incorporating it into your annual performance evaluations is a great way to start. The performance evaluation process will give you an idea of which nurses are showing potential for leadership, and the performance evaluation meeting is a great opportunity to begin informing interested nurses of what they’ll need to achieve to become eligible for higher level roles. At Glens Falls Hospital, nursing leaders use the RNs Increasing Success with Engagement (RISE) Career Development Tool to begin the succession planning process. The RISE form provides a way for nurses to express what they’re proud of accomplishing in the previous year, what their greatest challenges were, whether last year’s goals were accomplished, and to share professional development goals for the coming year.
Jamie Aliperti, MS, RN, CNML, director, Magnet® Program, Glens Falls Hospital, said “I developed the RISE form because I wanted the nursing division to start succession planning with every nurse. As I researched succession planning, I realized we weren’t doing a good enough job of allowing every nurse to express their interest in leadership roles. The standardized RISE form is part of every nurse’s evaluation. It allows nurse leaders to discuss and implement ways for nurses to participate in professional development activities that will move them toward their leadership goals. If their goals don’t include leadership, the form still guides a discussion about how they can increase their engagement in the organization to reach their professional goals.”
A conversation using a tool like the RISE form is a great way to begin introducing the evaluated nurse to higher-level responsibilities and the requirements they will need to meet for succession planning, and it is helpful to both prepare candidates for permanent roles and to prepare nurses to “fill in” for higher level roles in case of absences.
- Develop a Long-Term Succession Planning Program
Incorporating a long-term leadership development program can be a great idea for succession planning if you already have assessments to identify nurses with potential. Particularly for high-level positions like the AVP and CNO, it can be helpful to have a 12-24 month program to prepare identified learners for future growth. A long-term succession planning program will help nurses identify what they’ll need to accomplish to become eligible for higher-level roles and provide the time they’ll need to get ready. It’s also a great way to provide hospital-level supports, such as reimbursement for certification exams or to provide opportunities to gradually assume higher-level responsibilities. This will help the nurse understand and become acclimated to what is needed on a day-to-day basis, so they will be prepared to step into the leadership role when the time comes.
To bring all of this together in a strong TL10 example, we recommend starting by describing how the nurse with potential was identified, whether through a talent assessment, performance evaluation, or similar methods. Then, we recommend describing what the nurse will need to do to become eligible for the higher-level role. After this, we will need to demonstrate what the hospital did to support the nurse in becoming ready for the new leadership role. Strong evidence can include the talent assessment (or similar document), as well as any evidence demonstrating the hospital’s support during the succession planning process, such as a reimbursement form for tuition or certification, meeting minutes demonstrating the nurse meeting with leadership councils or taking on higher-level responsibilities, or demonstration of the nurse completing hospital-provided programs to prepare for the new role.