Talent reviews and succession
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5 min read
Key findings
Critical roles are found by scarcity, value chain position and impact on outcomes, whatever their grade.
A role is critical at a total of 12 or more, or a 5 on any one test.
Directors label fewer roles critical once each label requires successors and a vacancy cost.
A critical role with fewer than two named successors is a successor gap.
A director asked which of her roles are critical will often name all of them.
A critical role assessment scores each role on how hard it is to fill, where it sits in the work that earns money, and what stops if it is empty.
Roles that pass the threshold become the critical roles a succession plan must cover, whatever their grade.
This free template scores three tests from 1 to 5, flags each critical role, and shows where a named successor is missing.
Download the Critical Role Assessment template (Excel). It is free, needs no sign-up, and opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.
What The Template Contains
The workbook has three sheets.
Assessment. One row per role, with the three scores, a calculated rating and a successor gap flag
Scoring. What a 1, a 3 and a 5 mean on each test
How To Use. The six steps below
Each row also records what stops if the role is empty for three months, the cost of that vacancy, the number of named successors and the director accountable.
Six example rows show the standard, including two roles that look important and do not pass.
The Three Tests
Ross Sparkman sets out three methods for finding critical roles, and they work best in combination.
Scarcity outside. Skills in high demand and short supply, shown by long time to fill and high attrition
Position in the value chain. Roles inside the core activities that generate revenue or margin
Impact on outcomes. Roles that drive results the business values, agreed with its leaders
Sparkman describes the third as the most subjective, because it depends on how business leaders define a good outcome.
The template asks one question to make it concrete: what stops, and when, if this role is empty for three months?
Record the consequence, not the inconvenience.
A halted revenue line, an unmet safety or regulatory obligation, or a decision nobody else is qualified to take all mark a critical role.
The principal engineer and the plant maintenance lead often score higher than a director.
The Scoring Rule
Each test is scored from 1 to 5, using the definitions on the Scoring sheet.
A role is critical at a total of 12 or more, or with a 5 on any single test.
The single-test rule catches the specialist whose skills are almost impossible to hire, even when the role sits outside the main revenue line.
A critical role with fewer than two named successors is flagged as a successor gap.
Grade is not a test. The principal engineer and the plant maintenance lead often score higher than a director.
Why The List Gets Shorter
A director asked which of her roles are critical will often name all of them.
The label feels like protection for her people and her budget, and it costs her nothing.
David Edwards describes a workforce planning lead who attached a firm rule to any role labelled pivotal, and directors began correcting roles they had labelled wrongly.
The template attaches three consequences to the label.
Two named successors within one quarter
A stated cost for a three-month vacancy
A quarterly review that the director attends
A cap per division helps as well, because it forces a ranking. Set the cap before the list is drawn up.
The Assessment In Six Steps
Set a cap on critical roles per division, and let each director choose which roles fill it
Ask each director what stops, and when, if each role were empty for three months
Score the three tests from 1 to 5 using the Scoring sheet, and let the rating calculate itself
Record the vacancy cost and the number of named successors for every critical role
Agree two successors within a quarter and a quarterly review for each critical role
Carry every successor gap into the talent review and the talent risk register
Specialist And Technical Roles
Specialist roles score high more often than their grade suggests, and they are the hardest to cover.
Management succession has a familiar route, which is another manager. Specialist succession has no equivalent, for three reasons.
The capability takes years to build, and a programme cannot compress it
The external market is usually tight, so hiring is slow and expensive
Part of the knowledge is tacit, so the holder cannot simply write it down
For these roles, the successor column often reads zero, and the first action is a paired understudy rather than a development course.
A Worked Example
An insurer assesses six roles.
The senior marine underwriter scores 4 on scarcity, 5 on value chain position and 4 on impact, a total of 13.
If the role were empty for three months, quotes above the delegated limit could not be priced, and renewals would go to competitors.
The role is critical, and with one named successor it is flagged as a successor gap.
The regional operations manager scores 11 with no single 5, so it falls below the line despite its seniority.
The payroll team leader scores 7, because a second team leader already covers month-end.
Related Succession Work
The assessment produces the list; the succession plan and the risk register work from it.
How to agree the list with the business and name successors is set out in succession planning for critical roles.
How to test the depth behind each critical role is covered in measuring bench strength for critical roles.
Each successor gap can then be recorded in the free talent risk register template.
Where The Tools Sit
Trusted Talent Advisor covers critical roles in its Succession Reality lens, which tests each named successor on four readiness dimensions.
Ready now means the person could take the role within 90 days.
Sources
1. Sparkman, R. Strategic Workforce Planning: Developing Optimized Talent Strategies for Future Growth. Kogan Page.
2. Edwards, D. The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook. Kogan Page.
From the system
Trusted Talent Advisor sets out the full method: seven components, 51 tools, The Talent Template Pack and The Prompt Library.
See the system
Questions this answers
How do you identify critical roles for succession planning?
Score each role on scarcity outside, position in the value chain and impact on outcomes, then ask what stops if the role is empty for three months.
What makes a role critical?
Its loss would stop revenue, a customer commitment or a legal obligation within weeks, and it is hard to fill. Seniority alone does not make a role critical.
How many critical roles should an organisation have?
As many as pass the tests, within a cap per division set before the list is drawn up. The cap forces a ranking and keeps the list maintainable.
How many successors should a critical role have?
Two named successors is a workable minimum, with readiness stated for each. One successor leaves the role exposed if that person leaves or declines.
What is a critical role assessment template?
A worksheet that scores each role on set tests, flags the critical ones, and records the vacancy cost, named successors and accountable director for each.
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