Importance of Communication in Succession Planning – A Critical Analysis of an Australian City Council

Australia’s demographics are going through structural and cultural impediments, and massive changes are starting to occur in the following five years. The baby boomers’ generation is in the process of retiring. The major task which consumes most of the time was to extract knowledge from the baby boomers. Moreover, it involves identifying and evaluating knowledge from critical employees and will leave the establishment sooner. Succession planning mostly involves employees, which are about to depart the organization in the short term, and new skilled employees will engage in the function. Effective succession planning requires affirmative responses regarding the department’s organizational culture, functionality, goals and objectives, and relationship with the stakeholders and vision. To deliver high-quality succession planning, it is indispensable to deliver a robust Successor-Incumbent relationship, mutual reliance, open and sincere communication. Therefore, this paper emphasizes the strategic plan for succession planning and explains how critical it is to have clear, trustable, and authentic communication between the successor and the Incumbent.