Best practices for identifying high potential talent

One aspect that many organizations struggle with is identifying high potential talent. This is done in a variety of ways, such as the tenure approach and the manager appraisal approach. As explained by Talent Management Magazine:

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The Tenure Approach: This is when people are identified as high potential because they’ve been with the company for a long time. The general theory is that the person has paid his or her dues and therefore should be promoted.

The Manager Appraisal Approach: With this type of approach, an employee’s manager might identify him or her to a decision maker for special development based on a performance assessment. This approach, however, generally means identification depends on independent judgment.

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Unfortunately, neither of these commonly used approaches is in the best long-term interests for organizations. An employee’s tenure offers little relationship to their performance, let alone their potential. Relying on performance appraisals alone does not capture the essence of potential, as it is fundamentally different from performance. Furthermore, reliance on appraisals comes with an abundance of issues, including rater biases.

The best practice involves using a combination of employee assessments designed specifically to tap into potential, and afterwards, reaching a consensus on picks with key stakeholders.

To read about other commonly used high potential identification approaches, please see Talent Management Magazine.