Succession Planning: Foiling the Peter Principle (Curt Swenson and Wendy Samson, 2017)
A theory in management formulated in1969 by Laurence J. Peter, and since dubbed the Peter Principle, states that “the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate’s performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and managers rise to the level of their incompetence.”
FutureSYNC’s consultants come alongside their partner organizations to “foil” this principle through our implementation of a highly effective succession planning process. In this blogging series, we want to first acknowledge that to fully understand the process, companies need to know what succession planning is NOT.
Succession Planning is NOT…
- A tool to “hand pick” people for a job
- A hiring decision
- A guarantee of promotion
- A process to promote favoritism
- A commitment by the organization to promote anyone
- A replacement plan*
*Replacement planning is reactionary and occurs when an individual in a key position announces their retirement. The organization quickly goes into panic mode and often, knee-jerk hiring decisions are made. At best, the organization scrambles to find a suitable replacement just in time to take over – leaving only minimal time for knowledge transfer.
There is often some fear involved when contemplating succession planning. The fear is based on the notion that succession planning requires us to “pick favorites” or “make promises” and that we’ll actually lower the engagement of employees who aren’t selected for promotion. An even greater fear is the likelihood that we might be sued when someone we’ve identified for development doesn’t get the job. We will attempt to address some of these fears in the next blog in our succession planning series.
So if these are the myths, what are the truths about succession planning? Simply put, succession planning IS a systematic PROCESS that grows the talent in your organization and allows for the smooth transition of knowledge transfer when turnover occurs in a critical position.
To learn more about Succession Planning, contact FutureSYNC International at (406) 254-2326. To meet our consultants in person, join us for our next Executive Intelligence Seminar held in Billings on April 4th and 5th – and grow your leadership! To register, email us at info@future-sync.com.
Peter, Laurence J.; Hull, Raymond (1969). The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 8. ISBN 0-688-27544-3. OCLC 1038496