In both my corporate HR roles and in my executive search practice “high potentials” is a subject for discussion. When I am meeting with clients there is often discussion about the need for candidate to be high potential but not a lot of discussion on high performance. I assume it is because there is the implicit understanding that whatever candidate selected will be a high performer otherwise why partner with a search firm.
Here are observations I have made about hiring high performers:
- Not every new managerial or leadership position needs to be defined as being filled by high potential. I came to appreciate in corporate HR that you only need a certain number of high potentials in any organization.There is nothing wrong with hiring an individual who will be a high performer but not necessarily high potential.
- Companies need to have career paths identified for these individuals which needs to be understood by both the individuals and the company. For example, if relocation is required to develop an individual and the person is not open to relocation then does it make sense to designate the person” high potential”. I know of one former business colleague who was designated high potential for 15 years yet was never open to relocating and the company could not practically develop a career path to develop this individual without relocation.He continued to be on the list till he left the company.
- Managing high potentials’ career paths today is more challenging than twenty years ago. When I started work after graduating with my MBA in HR, I worked for a major oil company that had a list of high performers, very secret. Everyone wanted to get onto that(HIPO) list and no one was really sure how to get on the list.One thing we did know was we had to be willing to relocate every 1.5-2.0 years for probably the first six to ten years. Beyond that, getting onto that list was a mystery with all new HR hires all of us wondering which colleague was on the “list”. We heard that absolute secrecy was a requirement to remain on the list.This week, I reconnected with a former HR colleague from that company and he admitted he was on that list-I had not guessed.
Today with two career families, work life balance priorities , companies will need to think outside the box to ensure that high performers obtain the necessary experiences to develop that potential. Short term assignments, volunteer assignments, lateral developmental moves, outside mentoring need to be examined as ways to achieve that development. In a recent study it was found that 70% of high performers lacked the critical skills necessary to succeed in future roles.
Making the process understood internally by everyone is also an important part of a successful program. Organizations need to have discussions with high potentials to understand their career goals and how far they wish to advance. At the same time, they need to understand softer objectives like work life balance and geographic mobility so as to be able to develop assignments that will encourage the necessary development of skills.
Every organization will have or need high potentials.I encourage my clients though not to make it a blanket hiring requirement for every position because it requires a lot of hard work , flexible career paths and often non traditional thinking to make it happen.
Even with all the efforts that companies that companies devote to identifying and developing high potentials, here are some statistics that suggest there are still many challenges ahead from Corporate Executive Board( 2009) of 20,000 high potentials.
- 1/4 high potentials believe they will leave their current employer within one year.
- 1/3 high performers are not giving their all to their organization.
- 1/5 high performers believe their personal objectives are not in alignment with what the organization has planned.
- 4/10 have little confidence in their co-workers and even less in in leadership.
A lot of challenges continue to exist with hiring high potentials.