Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of succession planning practice (SPP) on employee engagement (EE) and employee performance (EP) in Malaysian private universities (MPU). Design/methodology/approach: This paper used a survey research design, and the study unit of the analysis consists of the academic staff of MPU. In the selection of the sample from the focused respondents (10,473) of the study, a stratified and simple random sampling method was used, and the study sample consists of 314 MPU academic staff. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the focused respondents while partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the study hypotheses. Findings: The findings revealed that SPP has a significant effect on EP, and the relationship between SPP and EP is partially mediated by EE. Practical implications: Sound succession systems for achieving academic staff performance should be put in place by the university management. Furthermore, the outcome of this research urges the policymaker to come up with a sound policy that can allow internal talents of the university to hold key leadership positions of any nature when the need arises before considering external talents, with that the talents will be satisfied and put decisive effort to achieve a positive result. Originality/value: This paper has made a significant contribution to the knowledge and operationalization of the EE, EP and SPP literature. The research also assists the university management to mobilize qualified and talented staff for an unexpected and sudden resignation of staff which saves the university the cost of hiring and development, and at the same time, it encourages internal hiring.