Succession and careers
Know who's ready next, and help everyone get there
Set out career paths with clear levels and criteria. See who's ready for promotion, name successors for every role, and give each person a plan for their next step.
Promotions and succession shouldn't be guesswork
When nobody knows what the next level needs, good people look elsewhere to grow, and succession plans depend on who someone happens to remember. Useful makes the bar clear to everyone, measures people against it with your own review data, and points each person to the development that will help.
Plan succession for every role
Place successors in Ready now, Ready in 1–2 years or Ready in 3+ years, and see whether each one meets the bar for the role's level. Useful suggests up to three people who already clear it.
Career paths that set up your reviews
Each level's criteria decide which skills, behaviours and experiences people are rated on, so your reviews follow your framework with no extra setup. Criteria can also use review answers, objective results and profile fields, and a level can build on the ones below it.
Turn review results into a plan to grow
Build a library of the courses, projects and secondments that help people grow. Useful recommends the right ones from each person's review answers and career path, and anything their level requires goes straight into their plan.
Find candidates you didn't know you had
People can explore other paths, rate themselves against the level they want and register interest. HR sees every internal candidate for a path, and how each one compares with the level they're aiming for.
Succession inside your reviews
Add succession planning to a talent review. Managers nominate successors for their team, and people can nominate successors for their own role. Every nomination and change is recorded, and you can print a role's succession plan.
See who's ready
Statuses show who's on the fast track, ready for promotion, suited to their role, a potential mismatch or falling short.
A clear view for employees
People see where they stand, the areas to work on and the development that is required or recommended for them.
Spot internal candidates
People can explore other paths and register interest, so you find internal candidates before they look elsewhere.
What you can do
Every feature can be switched on or off, so you only use what you need.
- Define levels by job title or role tag, with pass criteria for each
- Choose which perspectives rate each criterion
- Successors can be nominated by admins, anyone above the role and the person in it
- Use succession readiness as an axis on a talent map
- Recommend development inside a review, based on the answers just given
- Target development by role, ratings, review answers, objective results or experiences already completed
- Let employees add to their own plan, or keep that to managers
- Managers see and print each person's plan from their role page
- Set levels for managers, individual contributors or both
- Spot people who don't fit any level, or fit more than one
Works with the rest of Useful
Questions
Does Useful choose successors for us?
No. It suggests people who meet the bar, and your leaders decide.
Where do the criteria come from?
Your career paths. Each level has its own pass criteria, which you set.
Does Useful provide the training courses?
No. You add your own: courses you run or buy, secondments, projects, mentoring or anything else that helps people grow. Useful makes sure the right people are pointed to them.
Who can change a development plan?
The person's managers and admins. Employees can add to their own plan too, unless you switch that off. People can always mark their own development as complete.
Do self-ratings affect official scores?
No. When people rate themselves while exploring another path, those ratings stay separate from official ratings and talent maps.
Can we switch career planning off for employees?
Yes. Career planning and exploring other paths can each be switched on or off.
Who can see successor nominations?
Admins, anyone above the role and the person in it. Nobody else.
Grow your next leaders from within
Tell us what you need, and we'll show you how Useful can do it.