This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

Ask a leadership team who would take each of their jobs if they left in a month. Count how many answers are a name rather than a vacancy. Here are 419 tools to change that count: 244 ready-to-use question lists, templates, procedures and scorecards, 159 models and methods, 15 services shown on screen and a leadership level check.

Open a lecture, take the scorecard, and assess the successors for one critical role.

Why succession plans stay on paper

Succession lists are filled in once a year for the shareholders, with names nobody has assessed. Talent is defined differently by every manager, competencies are vague, development is a course catalogue, and when a leader leaves, the company hires from outside in a hurry.

What changes after this course

Critical roles are identified, successors are assessed against clear competencies, and each has a development plan with mentoring and coaching. Managers develop their people, and the pipeline is maintained, not rebuilt every year.

What is inside: 419 tools, counted lecture by lecture

You do not have to take this number on trust. Open any lecture and read its description: every tool inside is listed there by name.

• 47 downloadable resources: lecture presentations plus a leadership level check
• 244 ready-to-use tools inside the presentations:
• 84 question lists and scripts: key-role identification, behavioral interview sequence, talent coaching interview script, manager development planning
• 47 templates and sample documents: competency-based job profile, individual development plan, succession stakeholder communication plan, succession plan
• 38 step-by-step procedures: competency-based interview, training needs assessment, GROW coaching model, mentoring partner selection
• 37 scorecards, rubrics and matrices: departure risk versus business impact, key-role selection criteria, leadership potential assessment criteria, succession readiness heatmap
• 34 checklists: succession disclosure and confidentiality, succession plan audit, succession early warning, talent identification criteria
• 2 ready AI prompts, 1 metric set and 1 other working tool: competency profile generation, assessment center exercise design
• 159 models and methods explained with examples: nine-box talent grid, 360-degree feedback, SHL high-potential model, situational leadership
• 15 services shown on screen, including PeopleForce, 15Five, Effy AI, Sloneek and ChatGPT

Where the tools are

The succession mechanism (2 sections, 35 tools). Critical roles, assessment, the pool and keeping the system alive.

Talent (3 sections, 124 tools). Definition, selection, development, reward, careers and retention.

Competencies (3 sections, 125 tools). Models, descriptions, implementation and libraries.

Developing managers (3 sections, 105 tools). Competencies, strategies, teams, coaching, engagement and communication.

Mentoring (2 sections, 33 tools). Pairs, running and ending the relationship.

Coaching (4 sections, 52 tools). Foundations, listening, language, questions, strategy and motivation.

Who is teaching

I am Mike, the #1 HR instructor on Udemy, with 1,800,000+ course enrollments from 170,000 students, and the author of about 200 books on Amazon. I built the people system at Preply as it became a unicorn and worked at Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank across 20 years in HR. I hold PHRi, SHRM-CP and HCI sHRBP certifications and represent HRCI in Eastern Europe.

At the STB TV channel, our holding company required our CEO to provide a list of potential successors, so that development programmes could be built for them. The request came from the owners: show who can replace key people and what you are doing to get them ready. Succession is often a shareholder requirement, not an HR initiative.

How to use the course

Start with the succession mechanism, then use the talent, competency and manager development sections. Section and lecture titles show how many tools are inside, and each lecture description lists them by name.

What is included

• 48 lectures across 18 sections, 18.5 hours
• 47 downloadable resources: lecture presentations and a leadership level check
• 419 tools across the lessons, including 15 services shown on screen
• Lifetime access to all materials
• Active instructor support in the Q&A section
• A Udemy Certificate of Completion

Where to start

List your five most critical roles and write a name next to each, then open the first section. Enrol now and start your first lesson today.