SUCCESSION PLANNING
SUCCESSION PLANNING
Identify Critical Roles
Evaluate Progess
"He kura te tangata"
People are treasures
A succession plan supports kura to identify key roles and grow people who can step into those roles. Succession planning is about growing leadership across the kura, not just replacing roles.
Analyse the Role
Develop a Plan
Identify Successors
Identify Successors
When identifying people for a succession plan, good practice is to ask structured questions in a few key areas: role requirements; candidate capability, potential, and readiness; and alignment with the kura's values and cultures.Key questions to consider are:
- Who is currently demonstrating strong practice and leadership within the kura?
- Who has the potential to grow into the role?
- Who is ready now and who may be ready in the future?
- What development or support will help them progress?
- Are they interested in taking on this role?
- How are these opportunities made visible to staff?
Analyse the Role
Role analysis is the process of gathering information about a job. This should be done prior to building a job description, however, may also be used to revise a job description if required.
Understanding each role clearly will help identify what is needed for succession and where development is required. Although there are many questions to be answered, the three critical questions are:
- What needs to be done?
- Why does it need to be done?
- How is it going to be done?
Role analysis questions
Develop a Plan
To prepare staff for different roles within the kura, you need to identify the skills and experience required and support them to develop these through professional learning, mentoring, and acting opportunities across the kura. It is also important to ensure they have the potential, motivation, and support of the kura and community to take on greater responsibility.
Key questions to consider include:
- What skills or experience does the staff member need to develop?
- What development opportunities will help build these skills?
- What support will the kura provide during their development?
- What is a realistic development timeframe for their development?
Succession Plan Example
Identify Critical Roles
For each role in your kura, consider the following:
- Does this role have specific knowledge, relationships, and/or skills that a person may need to know in order to carry out this role?
- If the person in this role left, would there be someone within your kura who can undertake the responsibilities of this role?
- How difficult would it be to recruit someone for this role?
Prioritise each role based on the impact on the kura if the staff member was to leave.
Evaluate Progress
To evaluate a staff member’s development for a role, you should assess whether they have gained the skills, knowledge, and experience required to perform effectively. This can be done through: professional growth cycles; feedback from colleagues, whānau, and students where appropriate; observation of their practice; and reviewing outcomes from development opportunities such as training, projects, mentoring, and acting assignments. Key questions to consider include:
- Have they developed the required skills and knowledge for a leadership role?
- How well do they perform when given additional responsibilities or leadership tasks?
- What feedback has been received?
- Have the development goals in their plan been achieved?
- Are they ready to transition into the higher role or do they need further development?
Succession Planning
Haemata Limited
Created on March 9, 2026
An informational interactive tool for tumuaki and principals to understand the importance of succession planning.
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Transcript
SUCCESSION PLANNING
SUCCESSION PLANNING
Identify Critical Roles
Evaluate Progess
"He kura te tangata"
People are treasures
A succession plan supports kura to identify key roles and grow people who can step into those roles. Succession planning is about growing leadership across the kura, not just replacing roles.
Analyse the Role
Develop a Plan
Identify Successors
Identify Successors
When identifying people for a succession plan, good practice is to ask structured questions in a few key areas: role requirements; candidate capability, potential, and readiness; and alignment with the kura's values and cultures.Key questions to consider are:
Analyse the Role
Role analysis is the process of gathering information about a job. This should be done prior to building a job description, however, may also be used to revise a job description if required. Understanding each role clearly will help identify what is needed for succession and where development is required. Although there are many questions to be answered, the three critical questions are:
Role analysis questions
Develop a Plan
To prepare staff for different roles within the kura, you need to identify the skills and experience required and support them to develop these through professional learning, mentoring, and acting opportunities across the kura. It is also important to ensure they have the potential, motivation, and support of the kura and community to take on greater responsibility. Key questions to consider include:
Succession Plan Example
Identify Critical Roles
For each role in your kura, consider the following:
- Does this role have specific knowledge, relationships, and/or skills that a person may need to know in order to carry out this role?
- If the person in this role left, would there be someone within your kura who can undertake the responsibilities of this role?
- How difficult would it be to recruit someone for this role?
Prioritise each role based on the impact on the kura if the staff member was to leave.Evaluate Progress
To evaluate a staff member’s development for a role, you should assess whether they have gained the skills, knowledge, and experience required to perform effectively. This can be done through: professional growth cycles; feedback from colleagues, whānau, and students where appropriate; observation of their practice; and reviewing outcomes from development opportunities such as training, projects, mentoring, and acting assignments. Key questions to consider include: