The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
5 keys to identifying high-potential employees
Eric built his company from the ground up. Starting with only a handful of employees almost 30 years ago, it has grown to a staff of more than 1,000. While the company has experienced ups and downs over the years, the future looks bright.
Eric can’t help but wonder who will take over the reins when he retires. His leadership team is diverse and capable, but he hasn’t developed a robust succession plan beyond them. “Are there other employees with leadership potential? How do I find them?” he wonders.
Finding a HiPo in a haystack
A high-potential employee (“HiPo” for short) is someone who has been identified as having the potential, ability, and aspiration for successive leadership positions within the company. While finding a hippo in a haystack may be easy, finding a HiPo may be difficult.
The goal in finding HiPos is to develop a pool of employees for a range of executive or management positions, thereby limiting the chance of having no one ready to step into a leadership role when needed. Once identified, HiPos are often provided with focused development and training as part of a succession plan.
In determining which employees may be HiPos, it is important to remember that just because someone is a high performer in a current position, that does not automatically mean the employee will be a high performer in an upper-level position.
The attributes of a successful executive are different from those of a successful manager. While one position requires the individual to be a visionary and see the big picture, the other requires detailed skills to implement policies and procedures. An individual may struggle to shift gears from one set of skills to the other.
To find HiPos at your company, focus on these “S.K.A.T.E.” (not the roller kind) attributes:
Skills — Look at the types of training the employee has received, how well new information is processed, and whether the employee is skilled at completing projects.
Knowledge — Evaluate the employee’s overall knowledge
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