Talent Continuity: Succession & Capacity Building
September 8-9 | In-person | 9:00 am – 4:00 pm ET | $1,795
Spend two inspiring days with us in Montréal at the HR Forum on Talent Continuity: a reimagined approach to succession planning rooted in capacity building, shared leadership, and long-term organizational sustainability. This forum moves beyond traditional succession planning by treating talent continuity as a practical, organization-wide capacity-building initiative. The focus is not only on replacing people in critical roles, but on strengthening the systems, leadership practices, employee development pathways, and transition processes that help organizations remain strong and sustainable through change.
Talent Continuity Session Outline
Rather than focusing only on replacing people in key roles, this forum explores succession as a broader organizational initiative. Together, we will examine how to build a meaningful talent continuity framework, align succession efforts with organizational values and leadership expectations, and embed practices that strengthen resilience across the organization.
The forum will also feature a fireside chat where participants can hear perspectives, experiences, and lessons learned related to succession planning, talent development, and organizational capacity building. Participants will explore how to identify and prioritize critical positions, define talent profiles, consider appropriate succession approaches, support development planning, and manage implementation and transition in a way that reflects their organization’s reality, while learning from peers facing similar challenges.
Interactive Activity: participants will apply the learned approaches to a case study that will be carried out throughout the session.
Who Should Attend
This forum is designed for HR professionals, executives, managers, directors, leaders, and organizational decision-makers who are responsible for strengthening internal capacity, preparing for role transitions, supporting employee development, and ensuring continuity in critical positions.
It will be especially relevant for organizations navigating competing priorities, limited internal candidate pools, understaffing or resource constraints, reactive work environments, or the need to make succession planning more transparent and sustainable.
Session Format
Facilitated learning forum combining practical insights, peer exchange, interactive discussions, case study application, reflection activities, and tools participants can adapt to their organization.
Language(s)
The session will be delivered in English, but participants are always welcome to express themselves in French. Our facilitators are very flexible in fostering an inclusive environment for everyone.
By participating in this forum, you will:
Identify where succession challenges typically arise and explore practical ways to mitigate them.- Learn how to identify and prioritize critical positions using clear criteria, vacancy risk, and organizational impact.
- Build practical tools and reflection questions to define talent profiles for critical roles.
- Gain insight into different approaches to identifying potential successors and selecting the one that best fits your organization.
- Understand how development planning, communication, change management, transition support, and process management contribute to long-term success.
DAY 1 - Grounding in Talent Continuity: Core Concepts and the Approach
Reframing succession planning
- Explore what is succession planning and why it is often difficult to prepare for.
- Consider what is within your control, what you can influence, and how challenges such as reactivity, competing priorities, limited resources, and limited candidate pools can be mitigated.
Talent continuity and its impact on capacity building
- Understand how talent continuity supports immediate needs and long-term organizational sustainability.
- Connect succession planning to capacity building, talent management, development, and leadership pipelines.
Building a talent continuity approach
- Explore the key stages of a talent continuity process, including timing, program launch, working group or committee structure, and process ownership (case study introduction).
- Understand how to build an approach that reflects your organization’s context, culture, and priorities.
DAY 2 - Applying the Approach: Case Study Exercise
Identifying critical positions
- Identify critical roles depending on context and priorities with the support of tools and resources
- Explore how to prepare for planned transitions and unexpected departures.
Defining talent profiles and potential successors
- Build talent profiles for critical roles and potential successors with supporting tools
- Differentiate the must-have requirements vs. nice-to-have attributes
Developing successors, implementation and transition
- The importance of development plans for successors to build individual and organizational capacity over time.
- The role of change management and communication in sustaining talent continuity through transitions and position changes.
By participating in this forum, you will:
- Gain clarity on the essential components of effective onboarding and its impact on retention and engagement
- Learn practical tools to design and implement structured onboarding processes that build competencies and belonging
- Hear peer experiences and real-world examples of successful onboarding strategies that transformed employee integration
- Strengthen your ability to create onboarding experiences that engage new hires from day one and foster long-term commitment
- Leave with concrete ideas / next steps you can apply immediately
Meet Your Facilitators
Tanya Neitzert
HR Consultant & Facilitator
Strategic, collaborative, and results-driven, Tanya brings over 20 years of experience leading the HR function across diverse sectors, including technology, sales, education, and manufacturing. She is recognized for delivering practical and innovative HR solutions that strengthen organizational performance and drive business results.
Her expertise spans HR strategy, compensation, organizational design, employee engagement, performance management, change management, and labour law. Known for aligning HR with business objectives, she has a strong track record of fostering engagement and supporting measurable success.
She holds a B.A. from Concordia University, a certificate in Human Resources from McGill University, is a CRHA member, and is a certified Prosci Change Management practitioner.
Sarah Todd-Levac
HR Consultant & Facilitator
Collaborative, adaptable, and people-focused, Sarah brings over a decade of experience in human resources, operations, and management across the financial services, technology, education, and Indigenous government sectors. Since joining Boreala Management in 2019, she has partnered with Indigenous organizations to support organizational effectiveness through facilitation, training, and strategic advisory services.
She is recognized for her ability to build consensus, guide productive discussions, and create engaging learning experiences that foster collaboration and practical outcomes.
Her expertise spans HR fundamentals, strategic planning, talent management, employee engagement, learning and development, and change management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Concordia University, a Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from McGill University, and is a certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner.
Ready to connect, learn, and grow with HR professional in Indigenous focused workplaces ?
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