Succession Planning That Actually Works: Avoid the 9 Box Grid Trap and Focus on Meaningful Growth Paths

Succession Planning’s Broken Promise 

For all the effort that organisations pour into succession planning, many still find themselves with empty pipelines and stalled leadership transitions. HR teams conduct annual reviews, fill out 9-box grids, and highlight "ready now" talent — yet when vacancies arise, they scramble. Succession planning, as it stands today in many businesses, is falling short. 

According to Gartner, 45% of HR leaders say their succession management processes don’t yield the right leaders at the right time [source]. That means nearly half of organisations are investing time and energy into systems that fail to deliver when it matters most. 

Clearly, something needs to change. 

At Esendia, we believe it starts by letting go of the 9 Box Grid and embracing a growth-driven, inclusive approach that reflects how people actually develop. 

The Limits of the 9 Box Grid 

The 9 box grid is designed to visualise succession planning by plotting employees based on performance and potential. While it can support initial talent conversations, it’s ultimately static, narrow, and overly reliant on subjective assessments. 

As we explored in our blog, 9 Box Grid vs. 4 Career Stages Model, the model rarely captures how people evolve. It places individuals into boxes, high potential, moderate performance, and so on, but fails to provide a roadmap for movement. 

The result? A focus on categorisation over development. Employees get labelled, but they don’t always get support. And line managers are left without practical tools to help talent progress. 

In today’s fast‑changing work environment, static succession tools just don't cut it. We need up-to-date evidence that reflects our current context, not outdated forecasts. 

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, employers expect that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030, [source] signaling ongoing disruption in how work gets done. Even more striking, the report finds that nearly 60% of workers will require upskilling by 2030, underscoring the urgent need for continuous learning and agile development [source]

The 4 Career Stages Model: A Dynamic Alternative to the 9-Box Grid 

One of the biggest problems with the 9-box grid is its static nature. Once an employee is placed in a box, there’s often little conversation about how to move them forward. This contradicts the reality of talent development as people grow, shift, and evolve over time, and sometimes quite quickly.

Succession planning must reflect these dynamic journeys. To do this, resource-intensive processes like the 9 Box Grid, which focus on categorisation, must be replaced by lighter touch, more agile solutions that focus on conversations and next steps. 

Esendia’s 4 Career Stages Model replaces the static grid with a more fluid and human-centred alternative. It maps talent across four stages of career engagement and readiness: Sustain, Support, Stretch, and Shift. These stages capture the emotional and professional state of an employee’s current stage, but importantly, also the next steps for their development, helping managers and HR teams to understand what each person needs next, not only where they fit today. 

This approach is explored in-depth in our blog From Grids to Growth, and offers a new language for career conversations that drives action. 

A Closer Look at the 4 Career Stages 

Sustain – The Career Sweet Spot 

At the Sustain stage, employees are thriving. They’re engaged, consistently performing well, and operating in their “career sweet spot.” Most of their learning happens naturally, through the flow of work. They don’t need support. Instead, they need to be challenged just enough to stay motivated and growing. The goal at this stage is to maintain momentum and prevent stagnation. 

Support – Reignite Engagement 

Employees in the Support stage may be disengaged, frustrated, or feeling stuck. There could be a misalignment between their role and aspirations, or external challenges impacting their performance. These individuals need targeted coaching, clear development paths, and supportive career conversations to help re-energise their growth and realign their trajectory. 

Stretch – Unlocking Hidden Potential 

Stretch-stage employees are high performers who have become comfortable in their current roles. They’re capable and productive, but not stretched intellectually. They may not yet be ready to move to another role, but without new challenges, they risk disengagement. This is the moment to offer broader projects, cross-functional exposure, or peer learning to unlock the next layer of potential. 

Shift – Ready for the Next Level 

This is the succession-critical group. Shift-stage employees are top performers with high ambition and high potential. They are not only excelling in their current role but also aligned with the organisation’s future needs. These individuals are ready for progression and need strategic development, such as shadowing senior leaders, stepping into stretch assignments, or being placed on succession tracks. 

From Assessment to Progression: Why This Model Works 

Unlike the 9 Box Grid, the 4 Career Stages Model doesn’t attempt to categorise people into fixed labels. Instead, it views development as a journey,and empowers managers to support employees along that path. 

This model transforms career conversations into two-way, actionable dialogues. Employees are invited to select the career stage that feels most appropriate to them right now. Line managers do the same and then explore these evaluations in a two-way career conversation, making discussions more engaging and transparent. Line managers can quickly understand what interventions are appropriate for each stage, while HR teams gain a practical framework for workforce planning. 

We dive deeper into these advantages in our Comprehensive Guide to Succession Planning, which lays out best practices for aligning talent development with business priorities. 

Making Succession Inclusive and Continuous 

Traditional succession planning often focuses only on senior roles, leaving mid-level and emerging talent out of scope. The 4 Career Stages Model changes that. It can be applied across the organisation, from future executives to individual contributors, creating a succession culture rather than a one-off event. 

This also supports diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. When applied across the business, the model helps uncover under-recognised talent and fosters mobility across demographics, roles, and geographies. 

According to LinkedIn, 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invests in their careers [source]. That’s a powerful reason to make career development conversations widely accessible, not exclusive. 

Case Study: Chugai Pharma’s Shift from Grid to Growth 

Chugai Pharma Europe provides a clear example of the 4 Career Stages Model in action. Moving away from the traditional 9-box approach, they embraced a development-led strategy focused on meaningful career conversations and talent progression. 

With support from Esendia, Chugai achieved a 98% completion rate for career conversations, a remarkable milestone that boosted both leader engagement and succession clarity. Their transformation shows that when you focus on progression, not placement, people step up. 

Read full case study: https://www.esendia.com/chugai-pharma-case-study 

Building a Metrics-Driven Pipeline 

Succession planning success isn’t about ticking boxes or filling roles reactively, it’s about cultivating a healthy, future-ready talent pipeline. And like any strategic initiative, it must be measured with intent. That means moving beyond performance scores or talent review attendance and instead tracking the right indicators of growth, readiness, and resilience. 

Here are the four core metrics we recommend focusing on: 

1. Pipeline Coverage for Critical Roles 

Start by asking: for every business-critical role, how many potential successors have been identified? Are they ready now, ready soon, or need development? Strong organisations ensure at least two identified successors per key role, each with a tailored development plan. This safeguards against gaps and supports agile workforce planning. 

Tracking pipeline coverage across departments also reveals potential weak spots,areas where urgent development or external hiring might be necessary. 

2. Internal Mobility Rates 

Internal mobility isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a critical sign of succession health. When employees can see a clear future within your organisation—and are actively supported in moving into new roles—they’re more likely to stay. A LinkedIn study found that employees who change roles within the same company are 70% more likely to stay for three years, highlighting the impact of internal mobility on employee longevity. [source]. 

Tracking lateral moves, promotions, and cross-functional transitions shows whether your succession plan is actually translating into movement and opportunity. 

3. Employee Engagement with Development 

Are employees participating in development opportunities? Are they having career conversations, taking on stretch assignments, or completing leadership programmes? 

This metric goes beyond manager feedback—it reflects whether individuals feel invested in and engaged with their growth. High engagement suggests that your succession process is being embraced. Low engagement may indicate that development feels unclear, unstructured, or inaccessible. 

Pulse surveys, learning platform data, and participation rates in programmes can all help track this effectively. 

Also Read: The Ultimate Guide to 360-Degree Feedback Tools: Benefits, Features, FAQs

4. Diversity of Succession Candidates 

Succession planning is a powerful lever for equity if it’s done right. Track the demographic and background diversity of your identified successors. Are women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ employees, or those from non-traditional career paths represented? 

If your succession list doesn’t reflect the diversity of your workforce (or your customer base), it’s time to dig into potential bias in how potential is being assessed or how opportunities are being offered. Inclusion must be measured, not assumed. 

Final Thought: Metrics aren’t just about reporting. They’re about insight and course correction. By tracking these four dimensions—coverage, mobility, engagement, and diversity- you’ll gain a clearer picture of whether your succession planning is delivering future-ready leaders, not just future-looking documents. 

Rethink, Redesign, and Take Action 

If your succession strategy still relies on static assessments, it’s time to evolve. The 4 Career Stages Model offers a more responsive, inclusive, and actionable way to future-proof your talent pipeline. Instead of trying to box people in, start building pathways that help them grow. 

Download the Succession Planning Handbook for practical tools, templates, and frameworks. 

Ready to rethink your approach? Book a call with our team to explore how Esendia can help build a succession plan that actually works.