Chief of Staff Contingency Planning

Chiefs of Staff are overwhelmingly female but many can't have a baby and keep their job. It's a big hidden risk to CEOs and to their business.

Our research shows that >75% of Chiefs of Staff don't have a strong contingency plan in place to step out and then step back in. This generates two issues: employee retention and business continuity.

As a result, these mid-career professionals are delaying starting a family until later in their career. They might start to feel resentment toward their job since it's postponing their life plans. 

Some leave their stressful Chief of Staff job altogether to go on maternity leave without a proper replacement, leaving their principal high and dry. That's a nightmare scenario for any CEO or top executive.

Best practice would be to identify a few star performers who could step into the Chief of Staff role on an interim basis. Proper entrances and exits would be defined in the case of maternity/paternity leave, medical leave or other professional leave.

So our advice to leaders is this: Complete Chief of Staff contingency planning to reduce the risk to your business, retain your star performer and help them to start their family.

Chiefs of Staff, safeguard your role and support your career and personal goals by downloading our Chief of Staff Playbook here for essential strategies on creating effective contingency plans and ensuring business continuity.