Purpose

A template that helps list the must-have and nice-to-have skillsets required to succeed in an executive’s role, as well as a colored ranking system for the required level of proficiency for each. It assesses any potential candidates across each of the skills and identifies their areas of highest strengths, as well as any skills where they are lacking in proficiency level. It creates a visual heat map for each candidate based on skill proficiency. The template identifies the time to succession to support creating an action plan for each potential candidate to close any gaps that need to be addressed before a candidate meets all criteria for the succession role.

How to use this tool

The executive should first list all of the pre-identified skills in either the must-have or nice-to-have row categories. Additional rows can be added or deleted to ensure that the proper amount is visible for the skills list. Next, the executive should select the color from the Proficiency Index that best represents the level of proficiency required for each of the skills listed, and copy that cell under the Proficiency Required Column. This should be repeated until all of the skills have an identified required color. Next, they should fill in all potential candidate names across the top columns. Additional columns can be added or deleted to ensure that the proper amount is visible for the candidates list. Finally, the executive can type in the pre-identified time to succession (in years) in the box at the top to ensure the proper timeline is visible.