Succession planning is the process of identifying, assessing, and developing internal or external candidates to fill key leadership roles before those roles become vacant. It is a proactive talent strategy that reduces the disruption and cost of executive transitions, ensures business continuity, and often shortens search timelines when a role does open. Most growth-stage companies do not have formal succession plans for VP and C-suite roles, leaving them exposed when incumbents depart unexpectedly.
Why Succession Planning Matters for Growth-Stage Companies
At growth-stage companies, executive turnover is high: average VP tenure in B2B SaaS is 18–24 months. Most companies wait until a departure occurs to begin thinking about who should fill the role — by which point the search is already behind. A VP of Sales who gives two weeks' notice creates a gap that takes 60–90 days to fill, during which the sales organisation is leaderless.
Succession planning does not require a formal programme. At the minimum, it requires the CEO or board to have a list of 3–5 external names for each critical leadership role — people who could be approached quickly if a seat opened — and an assessment of whether any internal leaders are developing toward those roles.
Internal vs External Succession
Internal succession — promoting an existing team member into the role — is faster, cheaper, and often culturally smoother than an external hire. It rewards internal talent, sends a signal about career paths, and reduces onboarding time. However, internal succession is only appropriate when the internal candidate has the capability and experience for the next-level role.
External succession is necessary when the company needs capabilities, relationships, or market credibility that does not exist internally, or when the role scope has expanded beyond any internal candidate's experience. In practice, most VP and C-suite succession at growth-stage companies is external, as the required profile often exceeds what has been developed internally.
“Every critical role will eventually be vacant. The question is whether you have thought about it in advance — or whether you are scrambling reactively while the organisation waits for leadership. The cost of the scramble is always higher than the cost of the plan.”
Succession Planning and Executive Search
Companies with active succession plans — even informal ones — run faster and better searches. They typically have: a pre-existing sense of the target candidate profile, a shortlist of 5–10 external names who have been on their radar, and in some cases, existing relationships with those individuals that make outreach warmer.
Majhi Group offers talent mapping as a succession planning tool: building a documented picture of the available external talent for key roles, maintained and updated quarterly, so that when a role opens the search starts with a head start rather than from scratch.