Of course, turnover is unavoidable, so your nursery business must be prepared to lose top talent. Whether this is after a leader has helped you to get that Ofsted Outstanding and wants to move on, or a practitioner who has been offered a promotion at another setting – people leave. If you feel it appropriate, you can enter into negotiations for them to stay, but at the same time you don’t want someone at your setting who doesn’t want to be there anymore. This is where succession planning comes into play. This is particularly important for those positions that are high level, or that are hard-to-hire for. With a thorough succession plan in place, it will feel less like someone has ripped the rug out from under you.