Skip to Content

How To Hang On To Your High Potentials

In the war for talent, the most effective weapon is the careful management of candidates for top jobs.

Unfortunately, the development of a company’s future leaders, or “high potentials,” is often haphazard: There are no agreed-on best practices. Selection criteria are confusing; solid contributors are often demoralized by their exclusion from the process; development programs tend to remove promising managers from day-to-day operations.

In a far-reaching research effort, the authors have identified several sets of activities—“emerging” best practices—employed by companies with strong talent programs. They include:

Aligning the programs with corporate strategy, rather than adopting cookie-cutter approaches that seem effective in other organizations.

Choosing candidates carefully, through a combination of nominations and objective assessments, so expensive resources aren’t wasted on the wrong people.

Rotating people through jobs that match their developmental goals and experiences.

Communicating honestly. Companies are often reluctant to acknowledge who’s made the list, but the only real reason to keep it quiet is that you suspect the process is overly subjective or unfair.

Read the full article online: http://hbr.org/2011/10/how-to-hang-on-to-your-high-potentials/ar/1

©2024 Carlton Fields, P.A. Carlton Fields practices law in California through Carlton Fields, LLP. Carlton Fields publications should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information and educational purposes only, and should not be relied on as if it were advice about a particular fact situation. The distribution of this publication is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship with Carlton Fields. This publication may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or proceeding without the prior written consent of the firm, to be given or withheld at our discretion. To request reprint permission for any of our publications, please use our Contact Us form via the link below. The views set forth herein are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the firm. This site may contain hypertext links to information created and maintained by other entities. Carlton Fields does not control or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this outside information, nor is the inclusion of a link to be intended as an endorsement of those outside sites.

Disclaimer

The information on this website is presented as a service for our clients and Internet users and is not intended to be legal advice, nor should you consider it as such. Although we welcome your inquiries, please keep in mind that merely contacting us will not establish an attorney-client relationship between us. Consequently, you should not convey any confidential information to us until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established. Please remember that electronic correspondence on the internet is not secure and that you should not include sensitive or confidential information in messages. With that in mind, we look forward to hearing from you.