During a working session with a large manufacturing company in Southern Vietnam, I heard a troubling story: the plant director suddenly resigned to join a competitor. The problem was not about hiring a replacement, but about the fact that the company had no one ready to step in immediately. More than 300 workers were left waiting for direction, production plans stalled, and customers complained about delayed orders.

This is a typical example of a gap many Vietnamese companies face: a lack of a clear and long-term succession plan.

[Photo: A training program at the Sky-Line Education System]

Succession Planning – Why It Matters

In today’s volatile (VUCA) era, senior leaders or key managers can leave at any moment—whether due to retirement, new opportunities, or personal reasons. If the organization has no successors prepared, the entire system can quickly grind to a halt.

Succession planning is not just a “backup option.” It is a strategic approach to people development, tied directly to organizational sustainability.

Four Steps to Building a Succession Plan

From my experience working with many businesses, I have distilled a practical 4-step framework for building succession planning:

1. Identify Key Positions
   Not every role requires a successor. Companies need to pinpoint strategic positions (e.g., plant director, head of sales, project manager) where absence would create critical risks.
2. Assess & Select Potential Talent
   Based on competency frameworks, performance, and growth potential, select individuals who can become succession candidates. This process must be transparent to avoid favoritism or “choosing insiders.”
3. Develop Individual Development Plans (IDPs)
   No one becomes a leader after a single course. Successors need training, mentoring, job rotation, and real project assignments to build their leadership capability.
4. Monitor & Link to Long-term Strategy
   Succession planning is not a one-off initiative but a continuous process. Leadership should regularly review, update, and align the plan with the company’s 3–5 year vision.

Linking Succession Planning with Long-term Strategy

A retail company I once advised did this quite effectively. When planning to expand by 50 new stores over five years, they simultaneously launched a program called “Future Store Leaders.” Young managers were trained in operations, finance, and HR, and after 2–3 years, many were ready to take on store manager roles.

As a result, when expansion came, they did not need to rush to the external market for talent. They already had a well-prepared internal pipeline. This is the true integration of succession planning with sustainable business strategy.

Conclusion

Developing successor teams is not just the responsibility of the HR department—it is a strategic mission for the entire leadership team. Done well, it prevents “leadership vacuums” when key staff leave, while building trust and motivation for the younger generation.

Remember: a strong organization is not only judged by its current leaders, but also by the successors who are ready to carry the mission forward.

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