Succession planning must reach beyond the list
A succession list is a starting point, not an account of readiness.
Read the essayThe leadership review
Ananya Rao
Chief Human Resources OfficerIndia · Global perspectiveVolume 03
Notes from practice
- NOTE I
Leadership succession
Succession discussions relied too heavily on individual nominations.
- NOTE II
Culture transformation
A major change programme needed different behaviours across functions.
A leadership conviction
People strategy must explain how the organisation will build the capability its ambitions require. I connect succession, organisation design and everyday leadership practice, with attention to fairness, privacy and the experience of employees.
- Senior roles filled internally
- 85%
- Through a rebuilt succession pipeline
- Engagement improvement
- +31 pts
- During a three-year transformation
- Colleagues served
- 52,000
- In 30 countries
- Women in leadership
- 40%
- Up from 18% in five years
Beyond the page
The record behind the perspective.
In the boardroom
- Calder LogisticsIndependent Director · 2022 — Present
- The Skills Forward FoundationTrustee · 2018 — Present
Recognition
- CHRO of the YearThe People Leaders Awards · 2024
- Best Workplace TransformationThe Boardroom Review · 2022
In conversation
- “Building a succession bench the board can trust”The People Leaders Journal · 2025
- “What remuneration committees miss about culture”The Boardroom Review · 2024
- “Episode 117 — Culture on the night shift”The Leadership Ledger podcast · 2023
Our succession conversations became evidence-based and calm. That is a gift to any board.
Continue the conversation
Ideas are tested in conversation.
For board, advisory and speaking invitations, and for readers who want to take an argument further.
- Board appointments
- Advisory roles
- Speaking invitations
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