Succession planning is a critical part of the human resources planning process. Human resources planning (HRP) is the process of having the right number of employees in the right positions in the organization at the time that they are needed. HRP involves forecasting, or predicting, the organization's needs for labor and supply of labor and then taking steps to move people into positions in which they are needed.

Succession planning is the systematic process of defining future management requirements and identifying candidates who best meet those requirements. Succession planning involves using the supply of labor within the organization for future staffing needs. With succession planning, the skills and abilities of current employees are assessed to see which future positions they may take within the organization when other employees leave their positions. Succession planning is typically used in higher-level organizational positions, such as executive-level positions. For instance...