Now more than ever, organisations must focus on their strategy and ensure they have the right people in the right roles to deliver results. Businesses that critically review their organisation’s structure and job design and redeploy staff internally can boost productivity. Investing in a high-potential programme (HPP) will allow you to identify top talent; motivate, develop and retain them; and ultimately achieve medium to long term goals in a cost-effective way. Investing in the next generation of leaders now will provide real competitive advantage when the market starts to recover.
A high-potential employee is someone who can go on to succeed in more senior roles. They are the future leaders of your business and will have to address issues that haven’t yet been encountered. High-potential employees can be late-stage, that is, already in a fairly senior role and exhibiting signs of continuing progression, or early-stage. Early-stage high-potential employees will be in a relatively junior role and could be new to the organisation, but are already achieving above average results and demonstrating that they can do more.
Step 1 – Understand your organisation
A successful HPP must be led by the organisation’s strategy and workforce plan. HR should have a clear understanding of the business goals and analyse the current workforce to identify those employees who will be critical to achieving them. It is important to approach this with an open-mind and fresh eyes and as such, external consultants can really help. As well as understanding your current talent, it is also a good opportunity to map talent in the broader market.
Step 2 – Executive sponsorship
Is your organisation ready? For an HPP to succeed and deliver tangible results, it must be embraced and driven by the Executive Resource Board. HR can facilitate this by presenting a robust business plan, clearly demonstrating what is involved and how it will deliver return on investment. Once you have gained buy-in from senior stakeholders the programme should remain high on their agenda. The ERB must be ultimately accountable for the success of the programme.
Step 3 – Define high potential
A holistic approach is essential when defining high potential, breaking down silos within the organisation to define where people might move based on key competencies and transferable skills, rather than pre-existing career paths. HR should develop success profiles for leadership, identifying the attributes that high-potential employees should exhibit now and those that will be critical for future success.
It is important to note that high-performance does not necessarily indicate high potential; whilst most high-potential employees will demonstrate high-performance, the opposite is not always true. The Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) found that 71% of high-performance employees have limited potential for success at the next level.
So what is it that determines the potential of an employee? The CLC’s model identifies ability, engagement and aspiration as critical success factors in determining future success in an organisation.
• Ability includes both an individual’s natural characteristics and learned skills. Learning agility and emotional intelligence are therefore critical attributes in a high-potential individual as they will be required to continually take on new challenges during their career and hone their skills.
• Aspiration reflects the desire within the individual to progress. If a high-performer is satisfied with their current role and does not wish to advance, for whatever reason, they will not benefit from being involved in an HPP – nor will the organisation.
• Engagement speaks to the extent to which an individual is committed to the organisation; in terms of both a conscious decision to stay for their own best interests and an, often less conscious, belief in the organisation’s values.
All three factors must be present in order for an individual to succeed in their subsequent role. Lack of ability is the biggest derailer.
Step 4 – Working with high potential employees
Individuals should be assessed against the competencies identified using a mixture of performance measurement and management feedback, but it is important not to over-engineer the process. A personalised development plan is crucial, leveraging different forms of learning including job rotation, mentorship and formal training. It is also imperative to consider the individual’s career goals in the development plan to ensure continued engagement.
Whilst new roles will provide fresh challenges and aid the development of new skills, time is required for employees to establish themselves and produce results for the organisation. Performance levels may vary as the individual progresses, particularly when they commence a new role which challenges and stretches them, but this is an important step in skill development. Be prepared for high-potential employees to move in and out of the high-performance category as they develop. Maintaining a degree of consistency and quality with their managers is important; the programme should help the individual to foster relationships and build a strong network internally to aid both their ability and their engagement.
Step 5 – Manage and socialise
The HPP and the key competencies identified should be linked to your entire talent cycle, from recruitment, learning and development and performance management to rewards and recognition, separation and alumni.
There are opposing schools of thought as to whether you should tell employees of their high-potential. Informing employees may aid their retention by giving a clear signal that their ability is recognised and valued but, conversely, such disclosure can negatively impact those who are not included. This decision should be made in the context of your organisation’s culture and be consistent with your overall communication strategy.
The programme should be reviewed regularly to ensure that it is meeting business objectives. The return on investment should be measured by performance against its stated objectives, with retention, internal fill rates and organisational performance being key metrics.
With the economy in most regions under pressure, talent is a differentiator for organisations now more than ever. HR needs to lead thinking and facilitate innovative ways of attracting, developing and retaining talent. A high-potential programme may provide some of the answers.
Matt Dale
Head of Consulting Services Asia Pacific
Futurestep
www.futurestep.com
Case study: Talent identity kit
What exactly high-potential means will be specific to each organisation, but there are key skills and attributes to look out for which are common to high-potential employees. In addition, there are some other core competencies which, whilst often overlooked, are important indicators to high-potential.
Basic professional suite:
• Manages time well (own and others)
• Plans and organises effectively
• Prioritises appropriately
High-potential individual’s display:
• Learning agility – thinks and solves problems creatively, seeks feedback and is open to constructive criticism.
• Emotional intelligence
Internal: self-aware – reads and manages their own emotions well.
External: socially aware – reads others, uses and manages emotions in relationships.
• Commercial acumen – displays critical judgement of the organisation’s strategy; anticipates and delivers client requirements.
• Excellent people skills – builds rapport, gains respect and trust of supervisors, peers and subordinates, inspires loyalty and commitment.
• Resilience – conscientious, emotionally stable, gets things done, withstands pressure well.
• Action orientation and drive for results – has the energy to get things started and the drive to complete them, leads and manages teams and leverages resources to get things done effectively.
