If your CEO resigned tomorrow, you’d have a succession plan.
If your CEO’s assistant resigned tomorrow… would you?
In most organisations, the answer is no. And that’s a blind spot you can’t afford.
A senior assistant holds far more than a calendar and an inbox. They carry the executive’s operating system – the context, relationships, rhythms, and unspoken cues that keep leadership functioning at full capacity. And that’s before you look at the projects and initiatives they are leading, and the business knowledge they take with them.
When they leave, the cost is enormous:
• It takes 12–18 months for a new assistant to reach full strategic partnership.
• 36% of employers have no formal onboarding process at all.
• 25% dedicate just 1–2 days to onboarding – nowhere near enough for a role built on deep context.
And in most cases? There’s no proper handover. Years of finely tuned knowledge vanish overnight.
We plan meticulously for C-suite succession because we understand the cost of disruption at the top. But the truth is, assistant turnover can destabilise an organisation just as quickly, sometimes more, because they are the bridge between leadership and the rest of the business.
So what’s the fix?
• Document everything – processes, contacts, preferences, rhythms, before there’s a resignation.
• Mandate handovers wherever possible, even if it means a short-term overlap.
• Build a structured onboarding plan (think 30-60-90 days) so a new assistant isn’t left to sink or swim.
• Identify potential successors early – internal talent or a bench of trained professionals ready to step in. The Global Skills Matrix is a great place to start this process.
Assistant succession planning isn’t a nice-to-have.
Without intentional succession planning, the executive’s productivity, communication flow, and strategic bandwidth all take a hit. It’s a business continuity risk.
Assistant succession planning should be as deliberate as C-suite succession planning. Anything less is leaving a critical leadership function to chance.
