What is a 9-box grid?

A 9-box grid is a three-by-three matrix used in talent reviews and succession planning. One axis rates an employee's current performance, usually low, moderate or high; the other rates their potential to take on a larger or different role. Each person lands in one of nine boxes, from low performance and low potential in one corner to high performance and high potential in the other.

The grid is useful because it separates two questions that ratings often blur. A strong performer in their current role is not automatically ready for the next one, and someone still growing into a role may have a great deal of headroom. Placing people on both axes makes that distinction explicit and gives a talent review a shared picture to discuss.

Its weakness is that potential is a judgement, and a grid filled in from memory records opinion rather than evidence. The placement is more defensible when performance comes from review scores and potential is discussed against competency data. In CLEAR Talent's succession planning software the 9-box is interactive, its axes are configurable, and every move is written to an audit log. Readiness ratings then turn a box into a development conversation, drawing on the same competency assessments used in reviews.