Avoiding the Peter Principle

For those of you who are not familiar with this term, the Peter Principle is a managerial problem that occurs when an employee continuously gets promoted because of their ability to be successful in their current or previous roles until they reach a position that they are not qualified for and ultimately fail.  I call it a managerial problem because the fault does not lie with the employee, but rather management for promoting the employee to a position they were not qualified for.

Nobody wins in this scenario.  The employee loses their job and the company loses a good employee.  For example, if a company hires a secretary who performs her duties so well that she gets promoted to the office manager position.  As an office manager, she demonstrates enough skills to be considered for a senior manager position.  As a senior manager, she outperforms again, leading management to promote her to director, where she fails miserably and is relieved of her position and terminated.

This is an easy trap for any company to fall into because they naturally want to utilize their best employees in higher capacities but when an employee is moved up into a role where they cease to be competent, the company pays the price by either losing a good employee or keeping an employee in a role that they cannot perform well. 

Employers, business owners and managers must first realize that this concept exists and make a conscious effort to prevent it from happening.  Before promoting an employee, make sure that employee desires more than just the pay raise associated with the promotion.  Make sure they understand what the position encompasses.  Give them a trial period or possibly put them through a preliminary test before they are actually promoted and assume their new role.

Management must foresee complications with the promotion before they occur.  Ask the employee how they would handle certain situations and gauge their response.  As a prognosticator, a manager must realize the possibility that an employee might not be right for a particular promotion just because they have been previously competent in a lesser capacity.  Only put employees with managerial skills in managerial positions.  Make results the catalyst for promotion, not the employee’s efforts or desire.  You could also have an employee shadow their predecessor before actually assuming the role so you can see how they handle certain situations.

These suggestions may or may not be practical in your particular application and the reality is, the Peter Principle may be unpredictable at times.  Nevertheless, without certain measures in place, your company is more susceptible to experiencing the agony of putting a good employee in a bad situation that could cost your company money and cause problems.