Designing succession: the role of management in business continuity

Succession remains one of the greatest vulnerabilities of Brazilian companies. Recurring surveys since 2019 indicate that most still treat leadership transition as an unforeseen event, not as an essential part of management. In a country where nine out of ten companies are family-owned, this omission jeopardizes business continuity, job stability and the competitiveness of the economy.

The problem is not restricted to family organizations. Large corporations also struggle to develop successors consistently. The difference is one of degree, not of nature.

Back in 2019, a survey by the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC), in partnership with PwC, revealed that 72% of Brazilian family businesses did not have structured succession plans. In 2021, PwC's global study, with a Brazilian breakdown, indicated that three out of four companies were still operating without governance protocols capable of ensuring continuity. In 2023, Talenses Executive Search found that 67% of the country's large companies, including major national groups, still had no formal plan for strategic positions.

The recent scenario shows no improvement. In 2025, a survey of managers published by Valor Econômico showed that 75.8% of Brazilian organizations have no formal plans or have only partial initiatives.

That same year, an IBGC report, published by Você RH magazine, indicated that 72% of family businesses still have no defined succession structure and warned that up to 40% of them may not survive until 2030. The pattern repeats itself: there is awareness of the problem, but a lack of execution. Succession continues to be treated as a sensitive topic, even among companies considered professional.

Succession depends on method, not luck. It is a core function of management to design development flows, map potential and sustain mechanisms that make knowledge transferable. Without this deliberate work, any company, regardless of its size or control structure, remains vulnerable to chance and to dependence on individuals.

The aging of the workforce, technological progress and the reshaping of careers raise the urgency. Replacing talent is no longer a challenge exclusive to top management. It reaches every level of the organization, from technical and operational roles to executive leadership. Business continuity is, above all, the management of people and culture, not just of governance.

A significant part of this fragility stems from the culture of the “organizational hero,” the manager who concentrates decisions and on whom everyone depends. This logic, more common in family businesses but also present in large Brazilian corporations, creates dependencies that undermine autonomy and inhibit the development of new leaders. Instead of preparing replacements, key figures are protected. When these people leave the scene, the system loses balance and competitiveness.

The lean philosophy offers a pragmatic alternative. In it, leadership architects continuity and develops people capable of solving problems, improving processes and sustaining results without depending on specific individuals.

The development of successors is part of the management approach itself, supported by practices such as OJT (On-the-Job Training), which transfers knowledge in a structured way; standardization, which stabilizes work and accelerates learning; and multiskilling, which expands team autonomy and reduces vulnerability to absences. These mechanisms are not accessories: they form the foundation of stable succession.

From this perspective, an organization's resilience does not depend on people staying, but on the maturity of its processes. Succession ceases to be a one-off event and becomes the result of an intentional management practice. Mature companies do not wait for someone to be absent. They build replacement capacity as part of their everyday functioning.

To get there, the logic of leadership must change. The focus shifts from the individual to the whole. Isolated performance gives way to the capacity to perpetuate results. Architecting successors is an act of institutional responsibility and strategic vision. It means preparing the organization to regenerate itself without ruptures, cultivating a culture in which knowledge is shared, learning is continuous, and the standard is the basis for progress.

Succession is, ultimately, a reflection of managerial maturity. A company that depends on specific people to exist has not yet become an institution. Planning for continuity is not just prudence: it is a demonstration of conscious leadership. And, in a country where 40% of family businesses may disappear by the end of the decade, responsibility for succession is, above all, a management task.

Continuity is not inherited; it is built. This construction begins when each leader takes on the role of architect of the future and develops those who can – and should – continue the work with equal competence.