Succession planning seems to be another of the ‘buzz words’ of late. I believe it is a relatively new concept to the voluntary sector, with many of us struggling to get our heads around exactly what it is. In my journey to discover what succession planning was, I found an answer that was much more complex than these simple two words implied.

Succession planning has implications for an entire organisation. It is part of workforce planning, good management capability training, and performance monitoring. It is also connected to career development planning for individuals and other human resource issues, leading through to the future sustainability of an organisation, its systems, structures, processes and underpinning organisational culture.

Adaire Palmer introduces us to the elements of succession planning for employees, and then brings that information to an examination of whether and how we consider such development for volunteers, especially in predominantly-volunteer groups such as thevolunteer emergency services in South Australia.

We lament that Volunteer Program Managers do not successfully undertake succession planning for their own positions, but do we, as Managers of Volunteer Programs, have a succession plan for our key senior volunteer positions? Do not-for-profit boards have a culture of weaving succession planning into their processes?

I used the term ‘Career Volunteer’ in conversation with a colleague recently, and got a quizzical look in return. This person works in a frontline consultancy capacity with volunteers, yet appeared blasé about the depth of commitment and ‘self’ that many volunteers put into their work. Mmmm, I thought, this could be a topic to explore further!

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