What to do after high-potential employees are identified?

In broad terms, all employees that can take leadership positions should be considered high-potential employees. Practically, most companies habe some sort of formal or informal programme that supports this category.

We skip the question of identification of high-potential employees as we have a few articles dedicated to this topic. We focus on what organisations do just after high-potential employees have been identified.

Try to answer these question to understand how the process of identification and development of high-potential employees can be improved:

  1. Does your company formally identify high-potential employees?
  2. How transparent and regular is this process?
  3. What documents support the status of high-potential employees?
  4. What is the procedure of becoming a high-potential employee?
  5. What are advantages high-potential employees get over other categories?

Does your organisation meet expectations?

Recognition is important but it is not enough. When high-potential employees are recognised as such, they expect their organisation to make them a priority. These expectation fall into three catrgories:

  • access to senior managers: employees expect they could meet top managers more often and it would open them new opportunities for mentoring and coaching.
  • opportunities for development and assignments: employees expect more development opportunities and assignments. They also expect individualised learning.
  • higher level of responsibility: high potential employees expect they would get assignments with higher responsibility levels.

So high potential employees not just want to be recognised by their organisations. They also want more development opportunities, more access to senior managers and more responsibility.

Research results

According to research conducted by the leadership development company CCL, 77% of employees find important that their status of high potential employees would be formally recognised. This figure underlines importance of formal recognition of future leaders.