New i4cp Research Finds Most Succession Efforts Fail to Build the Leadership Depth Organizations Need
Only 40% of respondents say their organizations are effective at building bench strength, while organizations that get it right are nearly seven times as likely to report successful succession outcomes
BOSTON, Sept. 9, 2026 -- Succession planning is a familiar ritual inside many organizations: talent reviews, leadership programs, readiness discussions, and carefully maintained plans. But new research from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) suggests many organizations may be focused on the wrong measure of progress: they have succession activity, but not the leadership depth needed to keep performance on track as business conditions change.
Based on a global survey of nearly 800 business and HR leaders, along with interviews with senior HR and talent executives, i4cp's latest study, The New Rules of Succession Management: A Blueprint for Future-Ready Organizations, finds that succession remains a clear priority for organizations worldwide. But despite that focus, only 40% of respondents say their organizations are effective at building sufficient bench strength for critical roles.
When organizations lack sufficient bench strength, every critical role becomes a potential point of failure—putting business continuity, strategic execution, and future growth at risk. Organizations that are effective at building bench strength are more than 2.5 times as likely to be high-performance organizations and nearly 7 times as likely to report successful succession outcomes. Yet too often, succession management is not connected to the business planning that defines what leadership will be needed next. Only 18% of respondents say it is highly integrated with enterprise business planning, and just 14% report strong integration with strategic workforce planning.
- Only 40% of respondents say their organizations are effective at building sufficient bench strength for critical roles.
- Organizations effective at building bench strength are more than 2.5X as likely to be high-performance organizations and nearly 7X as likely to report successful succession outcomes.
- Just 18% of respondents say succession is highly integrated with enterprise business planning, and only 14% report strong integration with strategic workforce planning.
"One of the study's most striking findings is that effort and infrastructure alone do not create bench strength. Organizations may have talent reviews, leadership programs, and succession templates in place, but the stronger systems connect that work to strategy, build leadership depth across critical roles, and keep readiness current as business needs change."
Tom Stone, Senior Research Analyst at i4cp and co-author of the report
The study also shows that stronger succession systems extend well beyond the executive suite. High-performance organizations are 2.5 times more likely than lower-performing organizations to include mid-level managers in formal succession processes, eight times more likely to include entry-level and frontline managers, and twice as likely to include critical non-managerial roles.
Taken together, the findings challenge the long-standing view of succession as a replacement exercise that begins when a role opens. Instead, the report frames bench strength—the depth, quality, readiness, and mobility of talent across the organization—as a more useful indicator of organizational health, future readiness, and leadership continuity.
"Too many succession conversations still begin with who is next in line, when the more important question is what leadership the future strategy will require. That shift changes the work. It requires organizations to evaluate leaders against future needs, build readiness through meaningful experiences, and continuously strengthen the depth and mobility of talent across the enterprise."
Heather Foust-Cummings, Ph.D., Vice President and Senior Research Analyst at i4cp and co-author of the report
What sets future-ready organizations apart is not especially complex, but it is still uncommon. High-performance organizations are five times more likely to integrate succession with business planning, nearly twice as likely to assess leadership candidates against future role requirements, and almost twice as likely to use data and analytics to guide succession decisions.
That gap is particularly notable as organizations move quickly to adopt AI. Only 16% of respondents say their organizations place a high degree of emphasis on evaluating leadership candidates' willingness to experiment with and use AI, even though the capability is closely linked to broader measures of future readiness.
"The organizations getting this right are not simply preparing for leadership transitions," added Stone. "They are treating leadership capacity as an ongoing business discipline. That is a very different model—and one that appears to be associated with stronger succession outcomes and broader organizational readiness."
The report includes 12 recommendations for strengthening leadership pipelines, including connecting succession more directly to business strategy, expanding succession planning beyond the C-suite, using talent pools rather than relying on single successors, developing leaders through critical experiences, and applying data and AI to improve decisions while keeping human accountability at the center.
For organizations navigating constant shifts in strategy, technology, and workforce expectations, the cost of weak succession management is no longer theoretical. Leadership gaps can slow momentum, stall transformation, and leave critical priorities vulnerable. The organizations best positioned for what comes next are those treating succession not as an HR process to revisit once a year, but as a continuous business discipline for building the depth, readiness, and mobility of talent the future will require.
"The risk for organizations is not simply that a successor may be missing when a leader leaves," said Foust-Cummings. "It is that the business may not have the leadership capacity it needs when strategy shifts, opportunities emerge, or disruption accelerates. Succession management has to become part of how organizations build resilience and sustain performance."
Heather Foust-Cummings, Ph.D., Vice President and Senior Research Analyst at i4cp and co-author of the report
Hear from the Lead Researchers Live
Join i4cp's lead researchers live on September 23 at 1:00 p.m. ET for a public webinar exploring what separates organizations with strong succession outcomes from those still relying on replacement planning.
The discussion will cover what bench strength really means, why it matters more than a longer list of names, where succession planning most often breaks down, and what future-ready organizations are doing differently. Webinar registration is available at i4cp.com.
About the Research
The New Rules of Succession Management: A Blueprint for Future-Ready Organizations draws on a global survey of 759 business and HR leaders, supported by interviews with senior HR and talent executives. The research explores how organizations are adapting succession management to better reflect changing business priorities, evolving role requirements, and future workforce needs.
About i4cp
The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) is the leading global authority on human capital management, producing more HR research than any other firm worldwide. Many of the world's most prominent organizations and senior leaders rely on i4cp for insight into next practices and emerging workforce trends. Supported by a powerful community of human capital practitioners who drive its research, i4cp equips organizations to anticipate, adapt, and act in a constantly changing business environment. Learn more at i4cp.com.