This on-line self-study course includes videos and a guidebook to guide your through the course. The Succession Planning Guidebook is provided to you by the Ohio State University Center for Public Health Practice in partnership with the National Association of County and City Health Officials. This guidebook serves as a companion resource to this course

Succession planning can and should be a process consciously and thoughtfully approached throughout the employee life cycle to ensure knowledge is successfully transferred between mission critical individuals and leadership roles are continually manned. This process should take place well before a leader or mission critical individual transition takes place. The goal is the assurance of continued quality delivery of public health services. This session will provide a tangible framework/template to get you started.

The course consists of four modules:

• Module 1: Succession Planning Overview
• Module 2: The Case for Succession Planning
• Module 3: Steps and Phases of Succession Planning
• Module 4: Ensuring Success 

• Define succession planning.
• Describe the importance of having a succession plan.
• Differentiate between replacement planning and succession planning.
• Describe the business case, including:
  • Organization, employee and client benefits.
  • Workforce statistics that drive the need for succession planning.
  • Processes and counterparts that correlate with the succession planning process.
• Describe the steps, resources and tools for building a successful succession plan.

• Explain how to institutionalize succession planning and what to avoid.