SUCCESSION PLANNING

Optimizing talent management

Optimizing talent management

ROLE

ROLE

Lead Product Designer

Lead Product

Designer

TEAM

TEAM

2 Product Designers
1 PM
1 UX Researcher
4 Engineers

TIMELINE

TIMELINE

Jul 2024 - Oct 2024

Jul 2024 -

Oct 2024

SKILLS

SKILLS

Research

Strategy

Design

TOOLS

TOOLS

Figma

FigJam

UserTesting

Context

HR teams relied on spreadsheets and presentations to manage succession planning. This fragmented, manual process made it difficult to track talent, assess readiness, and make data-driven decisions, even though Paycom had all necessary HR data.

The Task

Design a desktop and mobile Succession Planning tool to:

• Assess employee performance and potential in a unified interface

• Enable seamless collaboration between managers and HR

• Provide actionable insights and reduce manual effort

Designing the Experience

We interviewed HR professionals to understand current pain points.

Initial Wireframes

Feature:

Low-fidelity wireframes for 9 Box Grid and talent profiles.

Why:

Surfaced critical employee data without overwhelming managers

Initial Wireframes

Feature:

Low-fidelity wireframes for 9 Box Grid and talent profiles.

Why:

Surfaced critical employee data without overwhelming managers

Expanded Talent Profiles

Feature:

Talent profiles became full pages; managers could leave notes.

Why:

Supports deep insights and cross-team alignment.

Meditation app image
Meditation app image

Mobile Cards

Feature:

Short mobile cards for on-the-go viewing of employee info.

Why:

Condensed view allows mobile managers to act quickly.

"I just need the essentials when I’m away from my desk."

Desktop Drag & Drop

Feature:

Added drag-and-drop employee placement in the 9 Box Grid.

Why:

Simplified employee movement and reduced manual effort

"Moving employees around manually was tedious — this is so much faster."

Desktop Drag & Drop

Feature:

Added drag-and-drop employee placement in the 9 Box Grid.

Why:

Simplified employee movement and reduced manual effort

"Moving employees around manually was tedious — this is so much faster."

Expanded Talent Profiles

Feature:

Talent profiles became full pages. Managers could leave notes.

Why:

Supports deep insights and cross-team alignment.

Mobile Cards

Feature:

Short mobile cards for on-the-go viewing of employee info.

Why:

Condensed view allows mobile managers to act quickly.

"I just need the essentials when I’m away from my desk."

Meditation app image

The Pivot

User feedback indicated mobile needed actionable functionality, not just read-only views. We pivoted to allow managers to adjust placements and leave notes on mobile, aligning it with desktop workflows.

"It’s convenient to make adjustments without waiting for desktop access."

Solution

Reflection & Next Steps

Impact

• 0-to-1 MVP launch for 11,000+ clients

• Reduced manual effort with automated placement

• Better collaboration across managers and HR

• Customizable profiles surfacing only relevant info

• Positive early feedback on usability and efficiency

Learning

• Predictive Analytics that helps choose potential successors

• Cross-team filtering to help better identify potential talent

• Deeper mobile functionality

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