Succession planning

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Succession planning is a process and strategy for replacement planning or passing on leadership roles. It is used to identify and develop new, potential leaders who can move into leadership roles when they become vacant.^[1][2] Succession planning in dictatorships, monarchies, politics, and international relations is used to ensure continuity and prevention of power struggle.^[3][4] Within monarchies succession is settled by the order of succession.^[3] In business, succession planning entails developing internal people with managing or leadership potential to fill key hierarchical positions in the company. It is a process of identifying critical roles in a company and the core skills associated with those roles, and then identifying possible internal candidates to assume those roles when they become vacant.^[2] Succession planning also applies to small and family businesses (including farms and agriculture) where it is the process used to transition the ownership and management of a business to the next generation.^[5]