Exploring follower experiences of leadership succession within Higher Education Institution departments

When a manager announces their retirement or exit from the organisation, it is not always an anticipated event. Evidence suggests leadership succession announcements can intensify employee emotions but little exists to explain how employees experience and shape this process.

This project reaches out to the employees who experience leadership succession in higher education institutions (HEIs), to form a new understanding of the organisational change. Using followership theory - a framework which prioritises employee contributions to organisational outcomes - this research is grounded in employee experiences to explore the impact of succession on emotions, relationships, and how individuals' previous experiences can set the tone for successor entry into the organisation.

From data collected in interviews and focus groups, this project seeks to highlighted employee contributions to organisational activity. Subsequently, practitioners may direct attention to employee influence throughout organisational decisions and activity. By acknowledging the social construction of leadership and shifting away from the fundamental attribution error (which automatically attributes success to leaders employee influence in the workplace becomes widely recognised.

The opportunity to explore employee experiences and actions is channelled by followership. The academic and societal landscapes have much to gain from this framework - the OECD (2013) note that the average school principal age invites a wave of succession within ten years. Engaging with employees creates a new understanding of their influence in the organisation, improving preparation for organisational changes like succession.