Succession planning is a proactive strategy businesses use to identify and develop internal talent to fill critical roles within the organization as they become vacant due to retirement, promotion, resignation or other unforeseen circumstances. Most processes in business, as with many of the established systems, have been developed by the dominant group (white, cisgender, straight, able-bodied men) to work for that group. Current succession-planning frameworks have not evolved to have greater emphasis on inclusion.
Decision-Making Bias
McKinsey & Company has studied decision-making bias, reporting consistent issues like broken-rung and pipeline problems in their annual report. The broken-rung problem is where women and people of color do not advance at the same rate as the dominant group. The pipeline problem is where many women and people of color have already been promoted to C-suite positions with very few ready behind them to take on those roles in the near-term.
In my interview with Heather Doshay, partner, people and talent at SignalFire, she warned leaders about the inherent biases in decision making (such as succession planning). “Most people have decision-making biases that they are not aware of. The problem with succession planning is that the inputs are generally subjective, which invites bias. The traditional nine-box succession-planning matrix, for example, relies on inputs that are tainted by potential bias because the metrics [such as perceived potential] are often not well-defined.”
One of the primary biases is affinity bias. Most people tend to favor people like them. If leadership is homogenous, with more representation from the dominant group, they likely hold this bias and may be likely to see more potential in junior talent who remind them of themselves. Another potential pitfall Doshay sees is the forgotten talent that is not labeled high-potential. If they do not score in the top three boxes of the nine-box succession-planning matrix, leaders tend to forget them, whereas a more diverse group of leaders may see them as high-potential.
Doshay notes that humans rely on mental shortcuts to make decisions, and these can harm outcomes for historically marginalized groups. Because leadership has been historically underrepresented with people of color, women, out LGBTQ+ and folks with disabilities, people tend to associate leadership with the dominant group. For example, consider the halo and horns effects.
The halo effect occurs when our positive impression of someone in one area leads us to view them positively in other unrelated areas. For example, if we find someone physically attractive, we might also assume they’re intelligent or kind, even without any evidence to support this. The horns effect is the opposite of the halo effect. It happens when a negative impression in one area influences our perception of other unrelated traits. For example, if someone makes a mistake, we might assume they’re generally incompetent or unreliable, even if this single instance doesn’t reflect their overall abilities. Both biases tend to hinder historically marginalized groups in the succession-planning process if not manage proactively.
Tweak for Inclusion
To be more inclusive in your succession-planning processes, consider the following:
- Focus on critical roles and ensure there is diversity in the pipeline.
- Proactively identify high-potential employees with diverse perspectives and provide them with the training, mentoring and development opportunities to prepare them for future leadership roles.
- Have a diverse pool of qualified candidates ready to step up if there are disruptions or unexpected changes to the business.
- Pivot from assessing potential to more objective, measurable items.
Inclusive succession planning starts with the end in mind: what is the goal? It could be to diversify the pipeline, better mirror the communities you hope to serve or ensure fairness in the succession-planning process. The next step is to review the current leadership roles and ensure you have a succession plan for each role as well as other business-critical roles. Rather than the traditional nine-box approach, Doshay recommends changing the axes to new variables as laid out in the modern 9-box she and her team at SignalFire open sourced.
Leaders need to assess performance based on objective data ranging from cultural values-behavior alignment to competencies necessary for the role. To prevent bias, Doshay recommends having a standard rubric based on key behaviors necessary for the role. She also finds it helpful to remind leaders of their potential biases before the succession-planning discussion.
The only downside to inclusive succession planning is that it may take more time. If you think about succession planning, the future of your entire business is at stake. It is worth the time investment.
Doshay shared an approach called data triangulation to help make more inclusive decisions. “Data triangulation, or integrating multiple data sets, enhances decision accuracy. Rather than solely basing performance on the most recent performance review, you can triangulate that data with other inputs like key performance indicator outcomes over the past year and job description audits. No single input can materially sway the outcome if multiple relevant data sources are used.”
One other bias often seen in the dominant group is the zero-sum-game mentality. All things being equal, if the team is not diverse, someone’s ability to bring a diverse perspective should be a tiebreaker between equal candidates for promotions or hiring decisions.
Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, recommends a shift from this zero-sum-game narrative. “It’s about ensuring that everyone has a fair opportunity to do their best. So many leaders talk about meritocracy. Equity is a prerequisite to meritocracy.”
In a recent podcast about inclusive succession planning, Doshay leverages Stanford professor Greg Walton’s metaphor about imagining two runners where one is racing against headwinds and the other has fair weather. The runners finish the race at the same time. Who is the winner? Most would say the one who faced the headwinds.
At the organizational level, it’s important to identify these headwinds and remove them if possible or give people credit for them in succession-planning decisions. Doshay suggests, “It’s not about looking at people differently, it is about removing the barriers in their way and giving everyone a chance to run in fair weather and compete fairly.”
Succession planning is a proactive strategy used by businesses to identify and develop internal talent for critical roles, ensuring continuity and minimizing disruption. To be more inclusive in succession planning, focus on critical roles, identify high-potential employees with diverse perspectives and have a diverse pool of qualified candidates ready for unexpected changes to the business.