Replacing someone within an organization can be very difficult, especially if they are an
expert at their job. However, most people that become experts thrive on moving up within their
organization. To do so many companies utilize replacement and succession planning. Proverbs
21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty”. While
both types of planning have different outcomes, you must have one to have the other. Both
planning types focus on the needs of the company.
Replacement planning primarily focuses on which individuals might be eligible for a
promotion. While a succession plan focuses more on the growth of the individual and ultimately
uses the replacement plan as the guidelines to success. Research has shown that succession
planning can help, “improve the identification and development of future leaders for succession
planning and long-term pipeline development” (Church & Seaton, 2022, p.241). When
organizations are looking to promote internally, the talent acquisition department will use the
replacement and succession plans that are laid out by the company to help internal employees
move to the next position level. The reason why replacement and succession planning are
utilized is to help organizations “focus on identifying individual employees who will be
considered for promotion” (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2022, p.127). Replacement and
succession planning can have two outcomes, successful or total failure.
As the use of replacement and succession planning increases, the question has come up
on wither or not companies have ethical obligations to have a succession plan in place. And if so,
who they are obligated to. The simple answer to this question is yes. There have been many
studies done on why succession planning is valuable. According to one study, “succession
planning has taken a replacement method and emphasizes managerial-level posts” (Thakur,
2022, pg.55). However, it is very important to understand the deeper layers into why companies
have been recommended to implement certain things like succession planning. When people
move within an organization, especially upwards to is very important to pay attention to “equal
employment opportunity/affirmative action (EEO/AA) concerns” (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller,
2022, p.288). Internal movement is no different than external recruitment when it comes to
creating an equal opportunity employment workforce. When looking at the ethical aspects of an
organization not only do they owe it to themselves, but also to their employees or future
employees. Much like Jame 2:8, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, employers are provided with
guidelines by organizations like the EEO to help prevent discriminatory actions. Within the
EEOC’s employer best practices, they suggest organization have succession plans.
Regardless of the organization, succession planning is being used across the board.
However, after reviewing different studies, it really depends on the type of organization who
implements the succession plan. Most organizations utilize their talent acquisition departments.
Because most CEO do not have the knowledge of the hiring or progression process, they
oftentimes look to their human resources department for their support/knowledge of creating and
implementing succession plans. It is also the responsibility of the human resources department to
make sure they are complying with all the ethical foundations the organization has set. However,
some organization like healthcare will leave it up to their board of directors, “consensus within
organizational research studies is that leadership succession planning is ultimately the board’s
responsibility, yet boards often rely on their director to initiate the planning process” (Chang &
Besel, 2021, pg.1063).
In conclusion, organizations do have an ethical obligation to make sure they are
following boundaries set by governing agencies to make sure they are providing an equal
opportunity workforce. One of these boundaries is the creation of succession planning. It is very
important, “that succession planning be future oriented” (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2022,
p.281) and has a strong replacement plan to follow. Both plans are very important for an
organization’s success. It is also important for organization to make the right ethical
determination when creating succession plans, much like Mark 12:33, says, “To love him with
all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor
as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices,”
References
Carroll, R. P., & Prickett, S. (1997).CThe Bible : authorized King James version. Oxford
University Press.
Chang, C. Y., & Besel, K. (2021). Cultivating next generation of healthcare leaders in Havana:
Barriers and recommendation for succession planning.CInternational Journal of
Healthcare Management.,C14(4), 1062–1070.
https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2020.1731174
Church, A. H., & Seaton, G. A. (2022). Learning agility as a key driver of leadership potential
for talent identification, pipeline development, and succession planning in
organizations.CConsulting Psychology Journal : Practice and Research.,C74(3), 237–252.
https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000238
Judge, T. A., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2022). Staffing organizations (10th ed.). McGraw
Hill.
Thakur, A. (2022). An Inclusive Study of the Need for Succession Planning Processes and Trends
in Organizations.'OPUS: HR Journal,'13(1), 54-75.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/inclusive-study-need-succession-planning/docview/2833758931/se-2
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