Diagnosis of situation: The Chief Executive Officer of a large medical device company was set to retire in 2-3 years. The company wanted to create a plan for his succession when the time came. Internally they had 6 potential candidates and they felt 3 were the best fit for the position.

The company needs to consider several points about the internal candidates to know who to choose, how they can develop in the role of a person or if they need a contingency plan to look for an external replacement.

Implementation: Executive leadership case development plans are created to identify the best candidates taking into consideration their soft and hard skills that will need to be developed through a one-year program to successfully fit the role.

Strategy:  After the diagnostic was approached and candidates were analyzed through a 360* survey as well as a psychometric test within the leadership development plan, the outcome indicated that candidates were not ready to take on the role. However, it also showed that there was time to develop the necessary soft and hard skills.

Results: After the development plan, the brand executive officer considered that the information provided was adequate to present it to the board of directors to help them decide.  After the presentation to the board, with clear information and sufficient evidence, they would be able to make a clear decision and approve the succession plan for the candidate.