Reprinted from the September 15, 2006 issue of MANAGER’S LEGAL BULLETIN, a widely read employment law newsletter that communicates legal guidelines to managers through real-life dialogue and concrete examples. Click here to view a sample issue, get more information or sign up for a risk-free subscription.

Succession Planning Causes Promotion Commotion

All good managers plan for their department’s future, including identifying and developing talented employees to be promoted to higher-level positions. Succession planning can include providing extra training or experience to the employees you’re grooming. Of course, it can also include claims of discrimination from the employees who don’t get that extra attention.

EMPLOYEE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Jeremy Hartley was on the fast track to upper management. He had been promoted to the rank of manager, and then to regional manager, and was told that he was next in line to become a director.

In the meantime, Acme underwent a restructuring that resulted in the creation of a new position, assistant director of product development. Since Hartley had previous experience in product development, he thought for sure that this was his shot at becoming a director. Much to his surprise, his manager, Andy Howe, promoted Colleen Carew, who had little experience in product development.

EMPLOYER HAS DIFFERENT PLANS

When Hartley questioned Howe, the manager explained that he and the current director of product development had identified Carew as an employee who was creative, strategic, and capable of eventually succeeding the product development director. Howe promoted her into the assistant job in order to provide her with the necessary background experience she would need for her eventual leadership position.

Unconvinced, Hartley filed a sex discrimination lawsuit under Title VII, claiming that, by promoting Carew and denying him the assistant director position, Howe discriminated against him. A district court disagreed, ruling that the manager was entitled to consider long-term succession planning in deciding whom to promote. The court found that Hartley failed to present evidence that the company had a “reason or inclination” to discriminate against men or that there was something “fishy” about the employer’s selection of a female rather than a male for promotion.

Warning: Although the court in this case deemed succession planning a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason to promote a particular employee over a more qualified one, succession planning can be seen as discriminatory if it appears that only certain groups of employees are put on an advancement track while others are largely ignored.

SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION PLANNING

Although “succession planning” is typically used to groom employees for higher-level positions, the same principles can be used to prepare for a vacancy at any position. Don’t just think of this process as a means to replace departing employees; think of it also as a way to develop and retain valuable, talented employees.

• Identify and monitor the talents of all your employees so when positions open up, you have a good idea whose talents and skills closely match the responsibilities of the available position.

• Find out employees’ goals, so you can also match your department’s future needs with employees’ aspirations. Remember, just because an employee has the skills to succeed, doesn’t always mean he/she also has the desire.

• Help employees extend their capabilities and develop their skills by providing interested individuals with mentoring, coaching, and hands-on training.

• When assessing employees for future positions, look beyond the performance appraisals from their current positions. First, the employee may possess a talent that is important to the next position in line, but that is not essential to his/her current job. Second, less tangible (and unrated) skills, such as the ability to learn new material and adapt to new situations, are the types of traits that could help an individual succeed in a new position.
  

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