Situation 10 · Demographics and succession
The retirements have been foreseeable for twenty years.
The organization is aging, and it is doing so unevenly — concentrated in particular functions. Building ahead would have needed a means that makes the attrition risk visible down to the individual position.
The departures of the coming years are to be covered before they happen. In the plan this is called succession planning or age structure analysis.
The problem underneath is that an age structure shows who is leaving — not what is missing. The retirements have been foreseeable for twenty years; what skills they take with them appears in no pyramid.
Succession planning stays the right answer. It only assumes that roles and skills are tied to the position that falls vacant — otherwise it plans headcount and loses capability.
Which unit becomes critical and when — and where does building up take the place of backfilling?
Prioritization by structural criticality, not by urgency in the inbox. And early warning, while growing someone is still cheaper than hiring one.