Is succession planning really needed in a mid-sized unit?

Owners of mid-sized units often see succession planning as something large groups do, with talent councils and nine-box grids. A plant with one QC lab, two or three production blocks and a few hundred people seems too small for that. Its size is exactly why it matters. A large group may have several people able to approve a stability summary or close an out-of-specification investigation. A mid-sized unit often has one.

So the answer is yes. The plan, though, should look nothing like a corporate programme. Think of a short list, a few names and a calendar on the wall of the plant head's cabin.

• The lead QC analyst: knows which HPLC column misbehaves on which assay and how to rescue a failing system suitability run. Also knows which chromatograms a buyer will query.
• The QA approver: signs batch release, reviews deviations and answers buyer and inspector questions. Often the only name on the approval matrix for some documents.
• The shift chemist or block in-charge: knows why a step in a validated route is done the way it is. Also knows what a pH or reflux temperature means at that stage of a reaction.
• The compression or filling setter: sets machines for awkward products by feel built over years.
• The utilities engineer: understands the purified water loop, the air handling units and the chillers, and what an alarm during the night shift really means.
• The stores officer: knows which vendor's lactose arrives damp, which solvent drums need a second look and how quarantine really works on a busy day.

Resignations in this group are rarely sudden from the employee's side. They feel sudden to an owner who hears only after an offer letter is signed. A notice period begins and everyone discovers what the person did. Releases wait for a signatory. An assay only one analyst could run is repeated by someone learning it on the job. A setter's absence turns a part-shift changeover into a whole one. Long leave, illness or a transfer to a sister plant open the same gap without any resignation at all.

Preparing a deputy costs a few hours a week for some months. Replacing a lead analyst in a hurry costs the plant its release dates for as long as the newcomer is learning.

1. 1

   List the roles whose absence would stop a batch

   Ask the production, QC, QA and engineering heads one question: whose month-long absence would delay a release or halt a line? Expect a brief list, not an organisation chart.

2. 2

   Rate each role on two questions

   How likely is this person to leave or be away in the coming year? How long would a newcomer need before working alone? Roles that worry you on both go first.

3. 3

   Name one deputy per role

   Choose someone already working close to the role, with the interest and the basics. One named deputy beats three possible ones.

4. 4

   Write down what lives in one head

   Sit with the holder and capture decisions as well as steps: why this setting, what this reading means, whom to ring. Short notes per product or method beat a thick manual.

5. 5

   Give the deputy supervised practice

   Shadowing is a start. The deputy then performs the work with the holder watching: runs the assay, sets the press, prepares the release pack. Each supervised run is signed and filed.

6. 6

   Recognise the deputy

   A title, a grade step or a review conversation that names the role. Without it, the deputy sees extra work and no future, and is the first to leave.

7. 7

   Review the pairs twice a year

   Is the deputy still here, still practising, closer to ready? Update the list as people join, leave or change roles.

The deputy-and-shadow approach we use follows this shape. Where one elder holds traditional formulas, the herbal route to a successor applies the same steps to soaking, drying and decoction methods. Writing the deputy role down belongs with role design for API makers, where ladders and sign-offs are spelled out.

It can, when sprung without warning. Present it as protecting their work and their leave, not as replacing them. Ask the holder to help choose and teach the deputy. Senior people asked to teach usually take it as respect. A holder who refuses outright may be the biggest risk on the list, which is worth knowing.

Then the plan worked for as long as they stayed, and the notes remain. Recognition lowers the risk. For the very few roles that would hurt most, a second deputy in early training is worth the effort.

Heads pick and teach deputies, because the work is theirs. HR keeps the list, the calendar and the sign-off records, and raises a flag when a pair goes stale. The group page on pharma plant people risks places this beside poaching of chemists and gowning drift. Our post on when the most experienced person retires goes deeper into planned retirements.

For help drawing up the first list of critical roles, share your requirement and we will come back with a starting point.