Only 9% of UK Businesses Have Succession Plans, Warns HR Recruit

Succession planning for leadership, including senior HR roles, needs to begin two to three years before a vacancy arises. Most UK organisations never think about it. Just 9% of UK businesses have succession plans fully integrated, while 6% have given it no thought at all. Internal succession for Chief People Officer (CPO) roles has plummeted from 73% to 53% in a single year, as organisations struggle to fill departures with unprepared candidates. "We see the same pattern repeatedly," said Jo Thompson, Divisional Director at HR Recruit. "Businesses come to us after a departure, after a failed hire, or after promoting someone who was not ready. By that point, the options are already limited."

She explains that the problem starts before a vacancy opens. The CIPD's 2024 Resourcing and Talent Planning Report found fewer than one in three UK organisations try to identify future skill requirements or retention issues. Where succession planning exists, it tends to focus on senior leadership roles such as CEO or Managing Director. Thompson says that HR Director and Head of HR positions are rarely included in these plans, despite being critical pipeline roles for CPO succession. These roles are often treated as hiring problems rather than development ones.

"An SME with 100 employees hiring its first HR Director often has no one internally who has been prepared for that role," said Thompson. "They come to us having spent six months in the wrong direction, either promoting someone too fast or bringing in someone from a large corporate who cannot operate without the infrastructure they are used to."

Thompson points out that a narrower pipeline is harder to rebuild when qualified professionals are opting out. Work Remastered research found only 23% of UK workers say promotion to a senior role motivates them, and the reluctance is strongest among mid-level HR professionals who have seen first-hand what senior leadership demands.

"The most capable HR professionals I speak with are weighing up what the People Director role now requires," said Thompson. "The role now covers Employment Rights Act changes, National Insurance increases, workforce planning, culture and employee wellbeing, often all at the same time. Some decide the trade-off is not worth it, and for organisations with no pipeline, that's where the search starts from scratch."

The gender dimension intensifies the pipeline challenge. Women made up 68% of FTSE 100 CPO appointments since 2018, yet only 22% of UK mid-sized businesses have a female CEO or MD, down from 30% in 2023. McKinsey & LeanIn.Org's Women in the Workplace 2025 report found women receive fewer sponsorships, fewer stretch assignments and less encouragement at every career level.

"The women who should be building towards HRD level are often carrying the heaviest workloads, none of which builds a board-level profile. By the time we recruit for the senior role, they have not had the visibility the role requires," said Thompson.

She advises organisations to identify two or three people at HRD and Head of HR level and give them the exposure, development and honest feedback they need to get there. "The businesses that manage this well are not doing anything extraordinary. They are simply thinking about it before they have to."

Unit B1, NJK House, Shadsworth Gateway Estate, Blackburn, England, BB1 2EE
Media Contact:
Christianne Kania
PR Manager
HR Recruit, Part of Exec Recruit Group
Email: c.kania@hrrecruitment.co.uk

About HR Recruit
HR Recruit is a division of Exec Recruit Group, established in 2013. The firm places HR professionals across the United Kingdom at permanent, interim, and part-time levels, working with organisations from private SMEs to large PLCs. Every candidate is pre-screened. The firm holds a 96.9% placement retention rate at six months. www.hrrecruitment.co.uk
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This release was published on openPR.