Half the Promotions in Business are Wasted - [website] Published: 16th of May 2011 by: (c) Staff Training Reporter
Only half of the ‘high potentials’ identified for jobs succeed after promotion, but why is this and how can we increase this number above half?
First, let’s examine why around 50 percent of the people selected as high potentials fail once promoted.
According to Best People Practises for Managers and HR there are many reasons for this, one of the most common of which is that what makes a good employee in one job does not necessarily mean it will in another, more demanding job.
“The popularised “Peter Principle” suggests that employees will be promoted to their level of incompetence because what they are promoted for does not necessarily mean that is what they will need to do in the new job,” according to authors Eichinger, Lombardo and Ulrich.
They go on to say that another factor may be that conditions in the new job are open to change, and the skills required going into the new position may not be easy for the new manager to learn.
In a study conducted by Lombardo and Eichinger in 2003 it was found that of the high potentials identified by businesses, not all were in fact high potentials and many lacked learning agility (see An Agile Mind).
So to rectify the inconsistencies in succession planning, Best People Practises for Managers and HR suggest businesses incorporate a measure of learning agility to their planning assessments in order to correctly identify high potentials (and thus boost the number of successful promotions).
Managers should also take part in some form of orientation when being introduced into new jobs in which they can share their expectations with their staff and get settled into the new position.
Another problem with managers going into new jobs is that bring their own business ideas instead of seeking the help of coaches who can guide them and give feedback on the dos and don’ts of their role.
By putting more focus on the assessments during succession planning and by incorporating new measures the percentage of successfuls can increase dramatically.
