Creating a Succession Plan for Your Laboratory
By - May 13, 2025
If you haven’t already set up a plan for who is going to replace the senior leaders in your laboratory, you could end up in a critical situation when an employee retires or unexpectedly steps away. Succession planning is vital for medical laboratories, especially in today’s healthcare environment where there’s a shortage in laboratory staffing. Unfortunately, many laboratory directors overlook the process altogether.
Succession planning involves identifying crucial staff positions in your laboratory and developing a plan that ensures those roles are always filled. This can include positions like executive leadership and senior laboratory scientists — anything that’s critical to your laboratory’s functioning, explains Kathryn Golab, DCLS, MLS(ASCP)CM, SHCM, Clinical Specialist – Hematology, Coagulation and Urinalysis, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
“When a position goes unfilled for a period of time, this can cause gaps that must either be consolidated or eliminated,” Dr. Golab says. “This can result in decreased quality of work and may eventually lead to issues with accreditation.”
While the concept of building a succession strategy may sound daunting, it really doesn’t have to be difficult. But it does require planning.
“Great succession planning doesn’t happen by accident; it takes a clear roadmap,” explains Tywauna Wilson, MBA, MLS (ASCP)CM, President of Trendy Elite Coaching & System Chemistry Director for CompuNet Clinical Laboratories.
A blueprint for a solid succession plan
Ms. Wilson suggests taking the following steps when developing your succession strategy:
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Identify key positions and competencies What’s vital to your laboratory? What skills do you need to maintain to be successful?
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Assess your current team: Who is ready to step into a leadership role? Who needs more development?
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Understand future needs: Which positions are going to be the toughest to fill? What will your lab need in two to five years?
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Create development plans: Incorporate mentoring, shadowing, formal training, and new certifications into your succession strategy.
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Encourage employees to define their Core Role: Ask each employee to consider what future roles they might be uniquely suited for.
Fill your most critical roles with internal hires
Your succession strategy will be the most successful if your laboratory’s critical roles are filled by people already on your staff, Dr. Golab explains.
“Filling a gap with an internal hire is preferred since they are already familiar with the workflows and computer systems within the laboratory,” she notes.
One way to identify them is by checking in with high-performing staff members during monthly rounding sessions.
“Ask them what their future career goals are, if they have plans to move into leadership positions, and if you can do anything to support them,” she says. “If they say yes to any of the questions, ask them what tasks they’d be interested in learning. This yields a good environment for team building.”
Once you choose the staff for your succession strategy, make sure they have plenty of opportunities to be trained and mentored so they’re ready to step into those leadership roles.
“It’s important to create a professional development plan to ensure they’re prepared and ready for a transition to leadership,” Dr. Golab says. “If individuals receive in-person or hands-on mentorship from other leaders, either within the organization or outside of it, they’re more likely to have success moving into a leadership position.”
Dr. Golab says this approach worked well for her personally.
“I had several mentors prior to moving into my current position, both at previous institutions where I worked and through mentorship programs like those with ASCP, ADLM, and ASCLS,” she says. “It’s because of those mentors that I was able to have a fairly smooth transition into lower levels of leadership before continuing to move up.”
How to deal with resistance
Unfortunately, it’s likely that you’ll run into resistance when developing a succession strategy. This is, in part, because people on your staff may feel worried that this is a plan to replace them, or they simply may not understand why it’s important.
“Resistance is natural, especially when people feel like succession planning is about replacing them or when they’re unclear on how it works,” Ms. Wilson says. “But I’ve found that transparency is the best antidote to resistance.”
Your plan should focus on the positions themselves, not the individuals in those positions.
“When succession planning is clearly tied to the organization’s long-term goals, not just immediate personalities, it helps people buy in,” Ms. Wilson says. “Even if there’s hesitation at first, they’re more likely to support the process when they understand it’s about stability, growth, and being prepared.”
Involving everyone from the beginning can help, Dr. Golab adds.
“The best thing to combat resistance is to involve the entire team in the planning process,” she says. “Once you have identified those critical roles within your department, start asking for volunteers to help assist with those tasks. Be transparent about why you’re asking for volunteers. It does no one any good to lie or hide what you’re planning.”
Part of involving the entire team is making space for open conversations, Ms. Wilson notes.
“Feedback sessions, team discussions, and listening to concerns go a long way in turning resistance into partnership,” she says.
Your succession strategy needs to be regularly reviewed
A succession plan is only as good as the last time it was updated. Every two or three months, review your plan. Check that the leadership pipeline is still in place, and staff are making progress on their professional development goals.
“Have regular meetings with the individuals undergoing internal mentorship and development to ensure you’re supporting their journey,” Dr. Golab says. “If the mentee doesn’t feel like they’re understanding the role they’re considering, it’s time to re-evaluate the plan.”
When reviewing your succession plan, use quantifiable metrics, like promotions, turnover, engagement, and time-to-fill data, Ms. Wilson notes.
“If you’re not measuring it, it’s not going to improve,” she says.
Take time to celebrate when a staff member grows into a role, so everyone knows the plan is working. But be ready to adapt the plan whenever needed.
“New technologies, shifts in staffing, or strategic goals may require you to tweak your priorities,” Ms. Wilson says.
Succession planning can help your staff today, not just in the future
If you’re putting off succession planning because you want to focus on more urgent concerns, remember that these strategies aren’t just for the future. A solid plan can inspire your current employees today.
“Succession planning builds internal readiness, improves employee satisfaction, reduces turnover, and creates a culture where people feel like their growth matters,” Ms. Wilson says.
This happens, in part, because employees know there’s a clear path for growth. It helps build a sense of purpose into their roles.
“We have to remind ourselves, it’s not just about filling seats, it’s about preparing people to lead with intention and leave a legacy,” Ms. Wilson says. “We’re not just planning for transitions. We’re building a leadership culture that sustains itself.”
“It’s easy to think about the here and now, and harder to conceptualize the future,” Dr. Golab adds. “This is the one thing that sets apart good managers from great managers.”
