5 Must Haves for
Developing
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High Potentials
High potential employees are the
pool of leaders who have what it
takes to run your future business.
They are the 20% who do 80% of the work, and who have the
ability and drive to take on more responsibility and seniority.
They are your homegrown talent and your most critical
competitive advantage. Programs designed to identify,
develop, and keep these people must be done right.
But recognizing the business advantage of high potentials
and doing something about it are two very different things.
Companies and HR departments are faced with plenty of
challenges in creating powerful high potential programs and
often struggle with answering key questions, such as: Who
really is a high potential in your organization? How do you
pinpoint those key players? What do you do with them once
you know who they are? What are the risks of differentiating
them from other employees? How do you keep them from
jumping ship?
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There is no cookie-cutter solution for creating a
successful high potential program. Instead,
potential is context-dependent, and a undermine the value of the program.
development program should stem from your
organizations culture, strategy, and future
leadership demands. With that said, there are
several must haves that all effective high
potential programs share in common:
Defining the Criteria
High Performance High Potential
The biggest hurdle most companies
face is deciding on a clear and
consistent definition of potential.
Getting this right is crucial to getting only the
best people on the bench. Research shows that
a clear history of high performance is a
necessary, but insufficient, condition for high
potential. In other words, just because an
employee has consistently delivered results in
their current role does not mean that they have
what it takes for more complex and senior roles.
In fact, as little as 1 in 7 high performers are
actually high potentials 1 . A definition of high
potential, therefore, must be multi-faceted and
should include an evaluation of the
employees:
Experience Do they have a proven track
record of success?
Motivation Do they genuinely strive for greater
scope and responsibility? Have they been
proactive in getting these opportunities?
Character Do they have the right DNA for
senior management in your company? Are their
strengths in-line with what the organization
needs?
Learning Orientation Do they have the
capacity for greater complexity? Are they
driven by continuous development?
The importance of defining criteria cannot be
understated - agreeing upon a common
definition of potential is crucial in formalizing the
identification of high-potentials. Otherwise,
2 2014 Kilberry Leadership Advisors.
employees tend to develop concerns with
fairness and believe the process is based on
favoritism or politics2, which can eventually
Robust Assessment of Potential
Once top talent has been identified
using your organizations definition of
potential, these employees can now
gain maximum benefit from a robust
and individualized assessment of their strengths,
areas for development, and potential blind
spots. The focus of these comprehensive
assessments should be future-oriented what
does this high potential need to do,
experience, and improve, in order to realize
their full potential in a more senior role in the
organization? An in-depth assessment that uses
multiple tools, such as an insight-building
interview, leadership style assessment, 360
degree feedback, and problem-solving
measure, is the best way for high potentials to
gain self-awareness and is a must in order to
develop a meaningful and worthwhile
development plan3.
Communicate Wisely
Companies are often concerned with
the risks associated with differentiating
high potentials from their peers. But
research shows that the real gamble is
when organizations lack transparency. For
instance, 33% of high-potentials not formally
informed of their status say they are looking for
another job, versus only 14% of those who are
told4. It seems as though transparency helps to
encourage patience among high potential
employees who are highly mobile. They know
they are talented, headhunters know they are
talented, and they just want to make sure the
organization is noticing. As a result, it is best to
share a high potential status openly with the
individual, with the caveat that the status is
earned and not a guarantee or promise. This
label sends a powerful message that the
organization values their contributions and is
willing to invest in their future.
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Pivotal Experiences and Missteps
The best ways for high potentials to
prepare for senior management roles
are for them to gain new and unique
experiences, experiment, and make mistakes.
High potentials learn most when they are
stretched slightly beyond their limit and are
given feedback along the way5. Consider the
experiences in your organization that have led
people to gain significant leadership traction.
For example, give them a short-term assignment
in a different geography or division, have them
lead a strategic initiative, or assign a group of
high potentials to solve a real organizational
problem. Ideally these assignments will involve
novelty and the need for flexibility. Experience is
the best teacher and talented people are able
to learn from, and extract meaning, from their
mistakes. Behaviors and judgment calls that
may appear instinctual for senior executives,
are in most cases, the result of important lessons
they learned early on.
Showcase High Potentials
The wish list of every high potential
includes access to senior leadership
and visibility across the organization.
Being profiled as top talent among executives
and peers is an important motivator for this
group6, and is a low-cost means to provide
enormous value. To do so, create a platform
where everyone knows the high potentials and
wants to work with them. Involve them in high-
profile work and surround them with other
talented people. High potentials in groups or
cohorts can learn from each other, share
experiences, and build relationships across the
company. Showcasing these individuals
provides them with more opportunities to be
coached and mentored and ultimately raises
the collective potential of the group.
Senior leaders should also be involved from the
start. High potentials with access to senior
management have a better understanding of
how these leaders think and work, and what
their roles really demand. Senior management
teams who commit to the development of high
potentials signal their appreciation for talent
within the organization.
3 2014 Kilberry Leadership Advisors.
High potential programs are vital to filling a
solid executive bench and the entire process is
an important investment decision for an
organization. With these must haves in mind, it is
possible to develop and execute a program
that focuses on the practices that really make a
difference to the readiness of future leaders.
References
1 Corporate Executive Board (2014). The HR guide to
identifying high-potentials. Retrieved from
http://ceb.shl.com/us/solutions/talent-mobility/high-
potential/.
2 AMA Enterprise staff (2011). Identifying and
Developing High-Potential Talent. New York: AMA
Enterprise.
3Aon Hewitt (2013). Building the right high potential
pool: How organizations define, assess, and
calibrate their critical talent. Retrieved from
http://www.aon.com/attachments/human-capital-
consulting/2013_Building_the_Right_High_Potential_P
ool_white_paper.pdf.
4 Campbell, M. and Smith, R. (2010). High-potential
talent: A view from inside the leadership pipeline.
Retrieved from
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/highPo
tentialTalent.pdf.
5 Loew, L. (2011). The art and science of building a
high-potential strategy: Key practices to maximize
the performance of top talent. Bersin & Associates.
6 Fernndez-Aroz, C., Groysberg, B. & Nohria, N.
(2011). How to hang on to your high potentials.
Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2011/10/how-to-hang-
on-to-your-high-potentials/ar/1.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Katherine Alexander
kalexander@kilberrygroup.com
416.945.6611