Role Phasing

Plan when and how roles will be activated during an organizational transition, with clear ownership, approval, sourcing, and communication requirements.

Aim

Use the Role Phasing tool to translate an approved organization design into a practical sequence for activating roles. It helps leaders determine:

Which roles are new, materially changed, or critical
When each role needs to become active
Who owns and approves each role
Whether the role profile is complete and approved
How the role will be filled
What must happen before the role can go live
What compensation review and communication support are required

The tool brings role design, talent decisions, and implementation timing into one integrated plan.

Results

When used correctly, the tool produces a role-by-role activation plan that:

Identifies the roles required to implement the new organization
Separates roles that must be activated now, next, or later
Establishes a named business owner and next-level approver for each role
Tracks completion and approval of role profiles
Defines the sourcing strategy, such as internal placement, internal posting, external posting, combined internal and external posting, or contractor support
Flags roles requiring compensation review
Documents the triggers that must be met before each role goes live
Clarifies whether communication is needed organization-wide, within a business unit or function, or not at all

The end result is a coordinated roadmap for moving from the organization chart to staffed, approved, and operational roles.

Pro Tips

Phase roles based on business dependency, not hierarchy

Do not automatically activate senior roles first. Identify which roles are necessary to make downstream decisions, maintain business continuity, or enable other roles to be staffed.

Be specific about the degree of change

Distinguish between genuinely new roles and existing roles that have materially changed. The tool explicitly recognizes roles with more than 30 percent change, which can help determine whether a new role profile, approval, sourcing decision, or compensation review is needed.

Treat “critical role” as a prioritization decision

Do not label every leadership role as critical. Reserve the designation for roles whose vacancy or delayed activation would materially affect execution, decision-making, customer delivery, or the broader transition.

Distinguish activation triggers from implementation tasks

A go-live trigger should describe what must be true before the role can be activated, not simply a task that needs to be completed.

Examples of activation triggers are:

Funding for the role has been approved
The manager or key leadership role is in place
A predecessor role has completed a critical transition
Business demand or workload has reached an agreed threshold
A preceding phase of the transformation has been completed
A role being activated before its manager is confirmed
Multiple critical roles relying on the same approval
Communications scheduled before impacted roles are approved
Roles phased later that are required for near-term execution
Sourcing approaches that cannot meet the required activation timing

Do not use implementation tasks, such as drafting the role profile, posting the position, or beginning recruitment, as activation triggers.

Separate role approval from candidate selection

First confirm that the role itself is required, correctly designed, and approved. Then determine how it will be filled. This prevents candidate availability from driving organization design decisions.

Confirm the sourcing strategy early

Internal placement, internal posting, external posting, combined sourcing, and contractor support involve different lead times and processes. Agreeing on the strategy early makes the activation phase more realistic.

Do not confuse “Now” with “announce immediately”

A role may need to be activated now while its communication is sequenced differently. Use the communication field to distinguish organization-wide communication, business unit or function communication, and situations where no separate communication is needed.

Use “TBD” sparingly

A few unresolved items are expected, but too many “TBD” entries indicate that the plan is not ready for execution. Assign an owner and decision date for every unresolved item.

Review the plan across roles, not one role at a time

Look for sequencing conflicts, such as:

Revisit the plan as implementation conditions change

Role phasing is a transition-management tool, not a one-time inventory. Update the plan when approvals, sourcing conditions, business priorities, or go-live dependencies change.