How to Take Care of High-Potential Employees

Successful leaders understand part of their job is identifying, managing and developing high-potential employees. This means taking time to focus on the employees that show particular talent, dedication and leadership skills and helping them grow. By doing this, you can help ensure your organization's success in the short and long term.But if you squander these employees’ potential, chances are they will find new jobs and take their talents with them, leaving your company scrambling to fill the voids left behind. This expert advice to help you learn how to make the most of your company’s high-potential employees.3 Tips for Developing Your High-Potential Leaders. SmartBlog on Leadership: “Over 80% of employees described as ‘high-potential’ leaders say they actively look for ways to identify and develop other high-potential employees. Companies can capitalize on this ‘leaders helping other leaders succeed’ approach with a peer coaching model. Mary Faulkner, who heads up the talent department for a U.S. water utility, has managed peer-coaching programs for several organizations. One of her favorite success stories is about an underperforming service center. After three members of that center’s senior leadership team participated in peer coaching, the center outperformed the other facilities in several key metrics, including employee satisfaction and turnover. One of the benefits of a peer-coaching model, says Faulkner, is that leaders can support one another as they progress through the leadership development program.’”Best Practices for Identifying and Developing Future Leaders. 21st Century Leadership Insights: “When faced with new situations, leaders sometimes inadvertently shortcut their decision-making skills by shoving the issue into the same category as previous problems. But they have faulty memories. The situation isn't the same. Eastman Kodak comes to mind. When faced with photography moving to the digital world, their leadership team at Kodak refused to believe it really was a new technology -- that the industry really would change so dramatically. They thought they'd lick the competition like they had so many other times before. Some leaders continue to think every new challenge is simply a new version of an old challenge they've overcome. Result: The problem swallows them -- and sometimes their entire organization -- before they realize it.”Tips to Help Manage Your Company’s Fantastic Four. Halogen Software TalentSpace Blog: “Reed Richards is a scientific genius who began uncovering the world’s greatest mysteries at a young age. He can shift, stretch, and reshape his body in many ways. Mr. Fantastic is highly intelligent, a natural leader and a gifted tactician and strategist. Just when you think you can’t get any more out of this superstar employee, try providing them with high-risk opportunities in a supportive environment. HiPos need highly challenging development opportunities that allow them advance their career. But, HiPos like Mr. Fantastic also need a supportive work environment to mitigate their risks and drive success. This type of approach will allow you, as their manager, to provide coaching only when necessary and shows how much you trust their ability to get the job done.”Essential Fixes for Amateur Talent Management Tactics. Visier: “The Situation: A manager puts forward a list of staff members for your company’s high potential program, designed to rapidly improve the skills of the best people. And who is on the list? A poor performer he has been complaining about but has refused to fire. Why This is a Bad Approach: By avoiding the performance problem, the manager is simply passing it on to someone else in the organization. He is trying to get rid of the employee by flagging the individual as a high potential, knowing that these people are most often ‘poached’ by other parts of the organization. The Fix: The right way to deal with this situation is to handle it straight on: sit down with the manager and highlight the difference between the high performers who have been nominated and the poor performing individual that has also been included.”Tips for Running a High-Potential Leadership Development Program. The People Equation: “Believe it or not, there can be such a thing as ‘too many’ HIPO employees. It comes down to a Goldilocks scenario: too many or too few employees in a formal high-potential program impacts employee engagement and retention. That’s according to Development Dimensions International and the Conference Board, who surveyed over 6,000 people designated as ‘high-potential.’ The sweet spot? Strive for a HIPO candidate pool of 15 – 30% of your workforce. HIPO programs that had this percentage were able to fully fund and support a program. The research found that smaller candidate pools tended to be underfunded; larger candidate pools offered too few opportunities, which resulted in people leaving the company.”Need help learning how to develop high-potential employees at your organization? Contact us for information.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.