Essential Ingredients

Evaluating your program is the only way to know if you are on the right track.

• Every succession plan requires a system of evaluation.
• You can adapt your evaluation model from others; many are rooted in principles of adult learning and education.

If you cannot validate the worth of your program, chances are the program will not survive. At the same time, succession planning can be such a complex undertaking and so difficult to measure that we actually become overwhelmed with trying.

You may find some very complex systems for evaluation; however, our goal is to provide you with a simple, straightforward tool that measures information in objective ways whenever possible. We have also resisted the tendency to focus on vague questions that would reflect individual satisfaction levels more than actual data.

Your evaluation needs to encompass the entire business succession program. Formal evaluation needs to take place each quarter, and should be conducted by a formally appointed committee that includes representatives from a cross-section of the organization; managers, CEOs, and board members can all be part of this committee.