For CHROs Building the Leadership Pipeline

How LEAP Leadership Journeys Build Bench Strength and Inform Succession Decisions

Succession decisions built on performance ratings tell you who performed well in the current role. Succession decisions built on LEAP evidence tell you who has changed how they lead.

Bench StrengthSuccession PlanningKirkpatrick L3 EvidenceSelf Impact Showcase

Manager Signature Rate

100%

Measurement Period

90 Days

Pipeline Levels

Four

Brandon Hall Awards

9x

ProventusHR is a Leading Bespoke Leadership Advisory whose LEAP journeys produce Kirkpatrick Level 3 evidence at 90 days across four leadership levels. Every Self Impact Showcase records specific observable behaviour change, confirmed by the reporting manager, in a real business situation. Across LEAP cohorts, ProventusHR has a 100 percent manager-signed evidence rate. Accumulated across successive cohorts, this evidence base gives the CHRO the most reliable input available for bench strength assessment and succession planning.

The Succession Evidence Gap

Why Most Organisations Cannot Build a Credible Succession Plan

Most organisations have a succession planning process. Very few have a succession evidence base. The difference is critical. A succession process produces a list of names against critical roles, rated on potential and performance. A succession evidence base contains specific, verified, third-party-confirmed evidence of the behaviours those individuals are demonstrating in their current role and building for the next one.

The process produces a view. The evidence base produces a defensible decision. When the Board asks the CHRO why a particular leader has been identified for a critical role, a performance rating is an opinion. A collection of manager-signed Self Impact Showcases documenting specific strategic leadership behaviours practised and confirmed over eighteen months is evidence. LEAP is designed to produce this evidence as a standard output of every cohort.

How the Evidence Accumulates

From First Cohort to Succession-Ready Evidence Base

The succession value of LEAP compounds across cohorts. Each cohort adds a layer of evidence. By the third cohort the organisation has a longitudinal picture of the behaviours its pipeline is producing.

Cohort One: Establish Methodology and First Evidence Set

The first LEAP cohort establishes the measurement standard and produces the first verified behaviour evidence on this group of leaders. For the CHRO, cohort one produces the precedent methodology and the first data points for succession consideration.

Cohort Two: Compare and Identify Pipeline Patterns

The second cohort allows comparison: which behaviours are consistently appearing and which gaps persist? The CHRO can now present the Board with pipeline evidence showing not just individual readiness but systemic trends in leadership behaviour across the organisation.

Cohort Three: Succession-Ready Evidence Base

By the third cohort, the organisation has a longitudinal evidence base covering the specific leadership behaviours required at each level. Succession decisions can now be made against this evidence base. The CHRO can identify which leaders have demonstrated next-level readiness with specific, verifiable, co-signed evidence.

Without LEAP Evidence

The Succession Decisions Most Organisations Are Making

Succession slates built on performance ratings in the current role, predicting current-role continuation rather than next-level readiness

Potential ratings based on assessor impression and recency bias rather than observed behaviour change over time

Critical role vacancies filled reactively because the pipeline evidence base does not exist to identify readiness before the vacancy occurs

What LEAP Evidence Enables

Succession recommendations supported by named behaviour evidence, co-signed by reporting managers, structured for Board presentation

Identification of which leaders have demonstrated the specific behavioural shifts required at the next level, before the vacancy occurs

A longitudinal view of pipeline health enabling the CHRO to show the Board whether the pipeline is deepening year on year

Related ProventusHR Practices

The Full Architecture Supporting Bench Strength

Leadership Journey

LEAP Senior Leaders

The level at which succession evidence is most critical. Directors and function heads preparing for the executive level.

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Advisory

CHRO Advisory Practice

Integrating LEAP evidence into the succession planning process and presenting pipeline health to the Board.

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Measurement

Impact Showcase

How the Self Impact Showcase evidence is structured for Board and investment committee presentation.

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Coaching

Executive Coaching

Individual coaching for leaders identified through succession planning as critical to the next transition.

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Common Questions

Frequently Asked About LEAP and Succession Planning

How does LEAP contribute to bench strength and succession planning?+

LEAP produces Kirkpatrick Level 3 evidence at 90 days: observable behaviour change confirmed by reporting managers. Accumulated across cohorts, this produces a succession evidence base built on verified behaviour rather than performance ratings. The CHRO can identify which leaders have made the specific behavioural shifts required at the next level, before the vacancy occurs.

How does the Self Impact Showcase inform succession decisions?+

Each Showcase records the specific behaviour changed, the real situation, the observable outcome, and the reporting manager co-signature. For succession, it tells the CHRO whether the leader has demonstrated the specific behavioural shifts the next-level role requires, confirmed by someone who observed them. This is qualitatively different from a performance rating.

How many cohorts before LEAP produces a succession evidence base?+

Two cohorts produce meaningful comparison data. Three produce a longitudinal evidence base strong enough for Board-level succession discussions with genuine specificity. ProventusHR designs the multi-cohort architecture from the first engagement so evidence accumulates in a consistent format.

Design for Succession from the Start

The Discovery Conversation Maps the Evidence Architecture to Your Succession Requirements

The measurement architecture that produces succession evidence is designed in at the first session. The conversation begins with the succession decisions you need to make in three years.

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