Succession planning is easy, you just need to pick your highest-performing direct report and put them forward for promotion, right?
Wrong!
We cannot count the number of times we have seen companies place a great-performing employee into a leadership role, only for them to flounder and fail.
Why does this happen?
Let’s take an example of succession planning in a sales role – you want to promote one of your top-performing sales professionals into a sales manager role.
The reasoning goes that if they are always meeting and beating their targets, get along well with clients, and always put in 100%, they will be a natural fit for a management role as they can teach and inspire others.
What many do not realise is that a leadership role involves a long list of competencies and behaviours which make it significantly different to what the employee is currently succeeding in.
Their natural behaviours may be providing them an advantage in their current role, but when it comes to leading and directing others, they may find it more difficult.
Consider the below:
- +How will they hold their new direct reports accountable, when they are going from being a colleague to a manager? Is this something they would be comfortable doing, or would they fall into the trap of being their ‘mate’ rather than their leader?
- +How will they manage and measure performance, when they have never been exposed to this in their present role?
- +Will they be comfortable with the increased independence of the new role?
- +Will they thrive in their new environment where there is less guidance and feedback, or will they find the ambiguity stressful?
- +Is their style of teaching suited to their direct reports’ style of learning?
- +What is their decision-making process, are they objective and decisive or someone prone to making impulsive and emotionally driven decisions?
Many organisations will not consider these points, resulting in them setting up the new manager to fail without realising it!
Indeed, without the right tools in place, it can be very difficult to answer the above questions with any confidence, as the proposed manager will not often have existing leadership experience.
So, what’s the best way to move forward? Peoplogica use an objective approach to ensure you promote, retain, and develop the best future manager (sales or otherwise) for your company.
This involves the below:
- Benchmarking the role. Using the Profiles Assessments and Level Five selling framework (if applicable), we work with our clients to identify and quantify the leadership style best suited to the organisation and team.
- Assessing the candidate. Using the Profiles Assessments, we assess candidates on their thinking styles, behaviours, and motivators. Their measurements are compared to the benchmark to identify ‘fit’, strengths, and any areas of concern.
- Place and develop the candidate. Using resultant coaching reports and consulting on frameworks, we ensure the new manager is set up for success and has all the resources and support they need to be a top performer.
Through this straightforward and proven methodology, Peoplogica have ensured our clients end up with top-performing managers who are naturally suited to leadership roles.
It can be a surprising process, as we have encountered many instances where the individual earmarked for the position is actually the least suitable, due to not having the appropriate traits for success.
If you’d like to explore this in more detail and really boost your succession planning processes, please contact us at info@peoplogica.com and we can set up a time to discuss.
Written by Peoplogica
