In the Heneman textbook, the Peter Principle is described as when people rise to their lowest level of incompetence, it illustrates another imitation with using performance appraisals as a method of internal staffing decisions. The argument behind the peter principle is that if companies promote based on past performance, the only time that people are not promoted is when they perform poorly. Eventually, companies will be internally staffed by incompetents.
A way to avoid the peter principle are to ask these questions when promoting internally:
-Who has exhibited the initiative to perform above and beyond the required job duties?
-Is the employee willing to take on a leadership role with additional responsibilities?
-Has the employee’s performance improved on a consistent basis or fluctuated?
-Does the employee exhibit leadership behaviors or have the capacity to perform well within key supervisor/management competencies?
Also make sure the candidate exhibits these competencies:
Respect and trust
Planning and organizing skills
Ability to manage, perform and delegate
Communication skills
Problem solving and decision making skills
Before offering a promotion to an employee based completely on past performance, take a step back and make sure the person is qualified over all for the advanced position
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In essence, the PP states that employees will be promoted through the ranks based on their competence until they reach the inevitable point where the challenge of the job exceeds their talents. So, the question is this: if performance in one’s current job is not always an accurate predictor of future performance, what predictor can be used?
ReplyDeleteIf leaders tend to hire individuals in their own image, in order to break the PP cycle a proper “vetting” method is required. This method should include three distinct areas of inquiry: company fit, skills match, job fit. Specifically, the job fit area provides the best opportunity to break the PP cycle. Here, we assess cognitive ability and personality. All previous areas being equal, i.e., company fit and skills match, the distinction can be made in the cognitive ability area.
Thanks!