Succession Planning Services
With PCI's Succession Planning Services, you get expert advice, validated leadership assessments, and objective insights from deeply experienced organizational psychologists.
Worried about leadership gaps?
Our succession planning consultants are here to help.
Our business psychologists and leadership advisors use science-backed assessments and a proven succession planning process so you can:
- Protect business continuity and shareholder confidence
- Avoid costly promotion mistakes
- Promote from within to reduce the risk of external mis-hires
- Ensure readiness with proactive, targeted leadership development
- Strengthen retention of high-potential employees
- Increase diversity in leadership pipelines
3 Keys to Making Smart Succession-Planning Decisions
To get a good read on your internal talent, you need to have 3 sources of data, as shown in the below graphic. This is referred to as The Truth Triangle. Each piece offers unique information to guide career paths and leadership development. If you're missing any one of these pieces, you're at risk for making poor decisions. Our succession planning consultants guide you through gathering this data and putting it all together into a talent profile.Â
1. Assessment of Performance
Documented performance evaluations, notable achievements, challenges overcome, and key experiences in feeder roles. When a senior leader nominates a successor, they should be prepared with this information to support their nomination.Â
2. Assessment of Potential
Psychologist-led psychometric assessments are the only forward-looking data point of the three. Our validated assessments measure traits, abilities, and motivators that are difficult to detect by observing a person's performance in their current role. In addition to giving you objective data to aid in the decision-making process, the participant receives a custom-written report and targeted developmental suggestions that accelerate readiness.
Our Executive Assessments are at the core of our succession planning services because they are better predictors of success at the next level than perceptions or current performance.
3. Assessment of Perceptions
We offer interview-based, off-the-shelf online tools, or customized surveys. These tools give the leader insight into specific things that they should start, stop, and continue doing to get to the next level. And, when the 360 data aligns with objective data from the potential assessment, it can be a powerful activator of growth.
Common Pitfalls in Succession Planning - And How We Help You Avoid Them
There are many ways that succession planning efforts can go wrong. Our succession planning services help you to go down the right path so you don't fall into any of these traps.
The Peter Principle
Promoting people beyond their capabilities is a lose-lose situation. We help you distinguish high performers from high potentials with validated, objective assessments.
Supervisor Bias
By using a structured nomination process, including objective assessments, and having robust talent-review discussions, you'll increase diversity in your leadership pipeline.
The Perils of Secrecy
We help you communicate the process transparently so you can build trust and keep both high performers and high potentials engaged.
Promising a Role
By having multiple potential successors and communicating with enthusiasm but not commitment, you'll encourage growth and build trust. Check out this short video from Marc Effron (Talent Strategy Group) to learn how to tell someone they are on a succession plan without promising them the job.
Waiting for a Crisis
We give you the resources and expertise you need to make executive succession an important priority before it becomes an urgent one.
Limited Insight into Internal Talent
According to the Center for Executive Succession, organizations often fail to gather enough data on their existing talent. We help you put all the pieces together so you can make informed choices.
Our 5-Step Approach to Succession Planning
Whether you're in crisis mode due to an unexpected departure, proactively building your pipeline, or planning for a wave of retirements, our succession planning consultants meet you where you are. Then, we guide you through a process that's proven to get you where you want to be.
Prepare
Document nomination process, evaluation criteria, and communication plan.
Evaluate
Gather Truth Triangle data, conduct talent reviews, and shortlist successors.
Debrief
Provide honest feedback to nominees about their current status on succession plans.
Develop
Implement tailored developmental action plans for all nominees.
Select
Use structured interviews, communicate decision, and execute transition plan.
Why Choose PCI for Succession Planning Services?
- Predictive, not retrospective. Validated assessments of potential, proven to predict future success.
- Objective data. Clear evidence to guide your promotion decisions and focus development investment where it pays off.
- Expert recommendations. Specific next steps for every participant, provided by business psychologists with 20+ years advising executives.
- Reporting built around you. Results mapped to your leadership competencies, core values, and success profiles.
- Flexible engagement. We can serve as your assessment partner, or manage the entire process from end to end.
Resources to Support Your Succession Planning
Learn More About Our Approach
Review our slide deck to learn more about the value our succession planning services can bring to your organization.
Explore Related Services
Get Started with PCI's Succession Planning Services
Our Organizational Psychologists are here to help you build a strong pipeline of future-ready leaders with hard data and expert insights.