The assessment and development of organizational leaders is one of the most critical facets of an effective talent management and yet only 18% of HR professionals rate their organization as strong in available leadership bench. In this follow up to a 2013 study, the authors sought to provide answers to both strategic and tactical key questions regarding the design and execution of high-potential talent programs.
 

Beginning with a set of research questions, the authors summarize the results of a 2013 assessment practices survey by Church and Rotolo before introducing the "Leadership Potential BluePrint" model (Church & Silzer, 2014; Silzer & Church, 2009) which identifies three core dimensions (i.e., personality & cognitive skills, learning ability and motivation and leadership and functional capabilities) to define a leader's future potential for more senior leadership roles over time. The model serves as the foundation for the study's research questions. 

In total, 80 targeted 'top development companies" participated in this study. 

Summary of Key Findings

• Top development companies use assessment well. The current study indicates a high and increased use of assessment tools and processes for high-potentials and senior leaders. 80% currently use and 15% plan to use.  
• Multi-method and multi-trait approaches are used. Results are shared with participants, managers and HR, with participants receiving more detail and having some control over the information. Assessment results are kept fresh with a a shelf-life of approximately 2 to 3 years.
• Perceived impact of assessment practices is high. Two-thirds of companies regard assessment as having a moderate to heavy impact on organizational results (only 9% reported a minor impact). High levels of acceptance are reported from both high-potential and senior leader participants. This is attributed to sound communication. 78% of companies
  communicate results to participants, their managers and HR. 
• Best practices for high-potential assessment are emerging. Most companies assess their high-potential talent and use results for both development and decision-making purposes. 
• Most also have a formal definition of potential (64% used a job level-based definition) and use multiple indicators to identify high-potential talent. 
• Past and current performance are primary indicators of potential with contextual factors such as mobility (41% of companies) and other background information (34%) playing a role.

• Most companies follow the BluePrint framework for assessing high-potential talent, although the authors recommend more work is required to leverage the correct content domains to identify high-potential talent. 
• 34% of companies report full transparency in sharing high potential designation while an additional 18% of companies indicated that their managers share the talent calls informally.  

The authors conclude by asking whether smaller, more nimble organizations have engaged in more cutting edge and innovative TM and assessment programs and propose this as an area for future study.