You'll need something more than just a token effort when it comes to cultivating workers with the most potential to grow into corporate-level leadership roles. 

Leadership talent-otherwise known as high potential-can actually be generated through speed-to-market product methodology the same way competitive advantage is fostered. More to the point, by effectively nurturing the competencies and leadership skills of your leadership prospects, you'll be able to tell which of them are capable of becoming the future leaders of your company.

Becoming a premier organization when it comes to farming and cultivating potential talent is a great way distinguish your organization from your competitors and extend your competitive advantage in the field.  In fact, demand for these possible star performers is rapidly outgrowing the supply, so it is wise to develop a specific, actionable strategy for developing your future leaders. A proactive focus on recognizing and developing potential is essential if you want to remain competitive, but few organizations are very effective at it.

Studies and Profiles of High Potential Development

The Corporate Leadership Council conducted a recent survey that revealed a rather interesting issue: about seventy-five percent of organizations around the world aren't confident in their capabilities when it comes to effectively staffing leadership positions for star performers for the next half decade. Furthermore, this conference board study discloses that only thirty-four percent of businesses are reliable in terms of identifying high potentials during the early parts of their career, so it's basically up to the employees in the remaining sixty-six percent of companies to perform well in order to be recognized. In short, less than half of all enterprises worldwide are actually helping to nurture their high potentials from the very start.

In contrast, firms that are able to recognize and improve high-potential employees have been shown to garner immense shareholder returns simply because they are able to make the most out of their human resources. In fact, any company that's efficient enough to optimize and streamline their assets-especially their workers-should do quite well in their chosen market. Meanwhile, a Hewitt Associates study of U.S. conglomerates suggests that those who exert a modicum of effort when it comes to developing high potentials perform in the seventy-fifth percentile or higher for Total Shareholder Returns. These higher results are indicative of why it's important to track and improve the performance of your would-be star performers.

 

Potential Star Performer Assessments

In order to consistently achieve measurable success in terms of high-potential employee development, your organization must be willing to engage in a quality program that regularly identifies and develops the desired abilities and traits of their best workers. Using assessments to identify attributes, competencies, behaviors, & motivators will give you (and the employee) great insight as to what it will take to turn them into a star performer.

High potentials have a tendency to be better than the rest of their peers and achieve stellar results comparable to those who've had more work experience than them. In order to examine them properly and move them into star performer status, managers must use multiple methods of assessment, compare the outcomes with known criteria linked with a particular leadership level, and communicate clearly their objectives for these special workers. Only the true star performers will be able to face this challenging stage of their career as they attempt to understand their environment, set goals, and prove their worth.

~ Written by our associate Gary Sorrell. Copyright protected worldwide, all rights reserved. Sorrell Associates, LLC