Building a Succession Plan that Works for Your Credit Union

What happens if a key leader leaves tomorrow?

Succession planning isn’t just about preparing for retirement—it’s about ensuring stability, continuity, and growth for your credit union. Without a clear plan, leadership transitions can create uncertainty, but with the right strategy, your organization can confidently navigate any change.

The Common Challenge

A credit union executive I recently worked with admitted they had no formal succession plan in place, and it became a growing concern as several senior leaders neared retirement. They had talented team members, but no clear path for developing or promoting future leaders.

We built a succession strategy that identified high-potential team members, paired them with mentors, and outlined a knowledge transfer process. The result? Leadership felt more secure about the future, and emerging leaders gained a roadmap for their growth.

Practical Steps to Build Your Succession Plan

1. Identify Key Positions – Pinpoint roles that are critical to operations—like executive leadership, branch managers, and department heads—and assess which team members might grow into those positions.

2. Spot and Develop Potential Leaders – Look for team members who show initiative, adaptability, and leadership qualities. Provide targeted training, cross-departmental projects, and mentorship opportunities.

3. Create a Leadership Succession Tracking Sheet – Focus quarterly on who your key players are and create a chart to show the potential departures and readiness of your C-Suite and Board Leadership.

4. Ensure Knowledge Transfer: Encourage senior leaders to document critical processes, share insights, and mentor their potential successors. Create a system for capturing institutional knowledge before it is lost.

5. Make Sure Your Plan is Exam Ready – Run through all the Policies, Procedures, and Frameworks needed so you can easily provide all the documentation needed for examiners and your Board at a moments notice.

Power Questions to Drive Action

• Who are the rising stars in our organization, and how are we preparing them for leadership roles?

• What gaps exist in our current leadership pipeline, and how can we address them?

• How can we ensure senior leaders actively mentor and share knowledge with their potential successors?

• How are we actively recruiting new board members and preparing for future board leadership transitions?

Your Next Step

Succession planning isn’t about waiting for a leadership gap to open but building a strong foundation today. Take the first step by identifying one key role and outlining a plan to develop a successor. The future of your credit union depends on the leaders you’re cultivating right now—are you ready to build that future?

Thank you for being a part of The Credit Union Playbook. Send us a note if you need support or resources as you create or update your Succession Plans.