High-Potential Employee Programs

Rethinking HiPo Programs: A Talent Development Imperative for the Future-Ready Enterprise In Talent Development, we’re often tasked with the question: “How do we accelerate the growth of our top 5%?” But perhaps it’s time we ask a better question: “What systems are we creating to unlock the potential of the other 95%?” Traditional High-Potential (HiPo) programs, while well-intentioned, are often emblematic of an outdated operating model—one that centralizes development within exclusive circles and assumes potential is a fixed trait identifiable by a select few. From a talent development lens, this is no longer sustainable. Why? - Potential is emergent, not elite. It surfaces through exposure, challenge, and coaching—not nomination alone. When access to development is conditional, we miss those with latent or contextual potential. - Closed-door selection erodes psychological safety. Employees who don’t see pathways for growth disengage quietly. A development culture that relies on subjective memory over objective capability data is inherently fragile. - Organizations don’t just need leaders—they need learning agility at scale. In a world of continuous transformation, talent development must enable distributed readiness, not just curated succession. At our core, we are evolving the HiPo narrative—from exclusivity to ecosystem: - Designing development architectures that are open, layered, and role-contextual - Embedding growth signals (not just performance indicators) into learning diagnostics - Creating opt-in pathways where learning agility and intent drive access, not just visibility This isn’t a rejection of HiPo strategy. It’s a call to reframe it through the lens of equity, scalability, and future workforce design. Because the true power of Talent Development isn’t in building stars. It’s in designing constellations. Curious to hear: How are you rearchitecting your HiPo approach to reflect the new realities of potential? #TalentDevelopment #LearningStrategy #HiPoPrograms #CapabilityBuilding #LeadershipDevelopment #FutureOfWork #LearningEcosystem #PeopleDevelopment #ODStrategy

Your “high-potential” program might be your biggest leadership risk. The paradox? We’re accelerating development while skipping self-awareness. And it shows up everywhere: 🔹 Teams that look productive but feel depleted 🔹 Cultures where “speaking up” is invited but rarely safe 🔹 Diversity metrics rising while inclusion quietly falls 🔹 Leaders burning out before they ever hit their stride What happens when we rush? Confidence gets mistaken for competence. Charisma ≠ leadership readiness. Failure gets bypassed. Resilience and humility aren’t learned on sunny days. We make managers, not leaders. Management is about process; leadership is about people. Privilege gets rewarded. Fast-tracks too often favor those already fluent in dominant culture. 💡 Jimism: “The strongest leaders aren’t built in a rush. They’re cultivated through intentional practice, reflection, and radical kindness—toward themselves and others.” The best leaders I know didn’t take shortcuts. They: ⭐ Listened before strategizing ⭐ Built trust before chasing metrics ⭐ Understood themselves before leading others ⭐ Created psychological safety before demanding innovation If you’re building the next generation of leaders, consider this: 👉 What if “high potential” meant high self-awareness, not just high performance? 👉 What if growth in humanity mattered as much as capability? The authentic, inclusive leaders we need don’t emerge from speed. They emerge from depth, patience, and wholeness. Your turn: What’s one leadership quality your organization keeps trying to rush—only to learn it can’t be shortcut? In Community and Conversation, 😀 Jim

It’s not a secret that talent is at the center of every high-performing organization. Identifying and developing high potentials is a core principle that has been particularly important to me and the companies that I have both served and led over my 40+ year career. Your best managers are at the heart of where you are today and the foundation for your successes in the future. I recently had someone ask me about my experience and thoughts on identifying and growing talent. I thought others might benefit from the information, so I am dropping a few thoughts here. Look inside first. Identify your high potentials and curate a pool. These are individuals who demonstrate traits and skill sets that will enable you to accelerate future growth. I always insisted that there were members of the pool from every department. If a department leader could not identify a high potential, we knew that we had an issue in that department. Don’t be afraid to give up your best managers for growth opportunities within the organization. By doing this, you will grow that individual while creating space and opportunities for emerging talent. We actively groomed our high-potential pool to mitigate the risk of losing them to competitors but, more importantly, to realize the compounded value that they would create for our organization. In the event we lost a great manager to a competitor or another industry, we embraced the opportunity to elevate and grow inside talent. Each year, executive leadership would host a two-day session where we would meet one-on-one with 20-40 high potentials. At the end of day one, we would host a dinner with everyone. At the end of the meetings on day two, the leaders would take a silent vote to rank the top 25% of the pool in order. There was always lively discussion. The top people in the pool were identified to get the next executive openings in that order. I would call the top 5/10 to congratulate them. Our leadership team split up the list of high potentials that did not make the shortlist to thank them and encourage them to continue on their growth path. Not only was it a badge of honor to be identified as a high potential, the program served as a great motivation tool throughout the organization. Your human resource department is critical to the success of a program like this. Not only do they know the high potentials and have a vested interest in talent growth, but they can also ensure structure, consistency, continuity, and accountability across the entire company. Note that developing talent takes time. Thus, the word “potential.” These are future greats who have demonstrated ability, mindset, and values. Bring your patience, your listening skills, and your support. Get to know them personally. Uncover their professional aspirations. Identify what drives them. And find opportunities for them to stretch and be uncomfortable. It’s in those moments that high potentials break through the ceiling and go from being good to being great.

🚛 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 🚛 In the fast-paced world of logistics, success isn’t just about processes and technology—it’s about 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. Let me share the story of a Logistic company that turned its 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 into its greatest competitive advantage. A few years ago, they faced challenges many logistics companies know too well: hig𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀, and a 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. But instead of looking outward for solutions, they looked inward, investing in their 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 through a comprehensive talent development program built on three pillars: 🔹 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹: 𝗧hey conducted internal assessments to spot high-potential employees ready for leadership roles, creating a talent pipeline for key positions. 🔹 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀: Every employee received a tailored training plan—whether it was technical skills for operators or leadership development for supervisors—ensuring growth at all levels. 🔹 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: They launched a cross-mentorship program where experienced staff guided new hires, fostering a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. This initiative not only enhanced engagement but also reduced turnover by 20%. The results? 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲s, and a 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 where employees feel empowered to contribute to the company’s success. 💡 When you 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, you’re investing in your company’s future. The logistics industry thrives on efficiency, but efficiency thrives on 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁. How is your organization fostering growth from within? Let’s share best practices and inspire others to make 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 a top priority! 𝗠𝗕𝗔 Gabriela Garcia  📩 gabrielagarciae41@gmail.com  📞 56 1033 62 36 💬 https://wa.link/7edvy9 #TalentDevelopment #LogisticsExcellence #PeopleFirst #Leadership #ContinuousLearning #EmployeeGrowth #LogisticsTransformation

Unlocking Potential with the 9-Box Model for Talent Development In today’s dynamic workplace, nurturing and growing talent is essential to driving organizational success. One of the most effective tools for assessing and developing talent is the 9-Box Model, a simple yet powerful framework used to evaluate performance and potential. But it’s more than just a grid; it’s a strategy to align individual aspirations with organizational goals. Here’s how the 9-Box Model helps: 1) 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: By plotting employees based on their performance and potential, it becomes easier to recognize future leaders and invest in their growth. 2) 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀: It highlights where individuals need support, whether in skill-building, role clarity, or behavioral alignment. 3) 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Regular discussions based on the model foster transparency and build a culture of continuous feedback. 4) 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: It ensures that leadership pipelines are robust, diverse, and ready for future challenges. Key Tip: Talent development isn’t just about identifying where someone stands today. It’s about having a plan to move them upward and across the grid with thoughtful interventions like coaching, mentoring, or stretch assignments. Organizations that leverage the 9-Box Model not only enhance individual growth but also build a resilient workforce ready to thrive in a competitive landscape. Have you used the 9-Box Model in your organization? Share your experience and insights below. Let’s learn from each other! #TalentDevelopment #Leadership #9BoxModel #HR #PeopleDevelopment

Talent Reviews & High Potentials. Here's a must-read report on how organizations are approaching potential. The 30-page report by The Talent Strategy Group is based on feedback from over 300 companies worldwide. It covers all aspects of potential—definitions, tools, assessments, communication approaches, and more. ✅ One stat (and there are many) that stood out to me:  ↳ Only 37% of organizations report that high-potential (HiPo) employees have a development plan. ↳ Given the outsized contribution these individuals can make, this represents a missed opportunity to use HiPo development planning as a performance differentiator. ✅ We need accountability for actions coming out of talent reviews, including development plans. ↳ Without accountability and follow-up, talent reviews risk becoming a “check-the-box” activity. With them, they become an enabler of business performance. ↳ I’m resharing my one-page cheat sheet with 8 guiding questions to support talent review discussions, two of which emphasize accountability and follow-up. ✅ Use my cheat sheet along with this excellent report from The Talent Strategy Group to identify opportunities to elevate the impact of your talent reviews. ↳ The actions you take may be what separates average from outstanding organizational performance. 👉 Both resources are in issue 311 of my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter https://lnkd.in/dB_zx86u ♻️ Repost to help HR teams elevate talent reviews 🔔 Follow Brian Heger for more resources #hr #humanresources  

In a new paper at Organization Science, we find that gendered responses to expressions of passion—a commonly used criterion in evaluating potential—both penalize women and advantages (unexceptional) men in high-potential selection processes (joint work with Joyce He and Celia Moore). https://lnkd.in/eeBjc_7j Across two studies—an actual talent review process and a preregistered experiment using videos with trained actors (plus two supplementary studies)—our paper shows: 1️⃣ Replicating prior work, we find a gender gap in high potential designations: men are more likely than women to be designated as high potential even when they perform the same. 2️⃣ Gender biases around passion provide one helpful insight into why this difference occurs. We find: ➡️ a male advantage: passion more meaningfully shifts predictions of diligence for men than women ➡️ a female advantage: passion is viewed as less appropriate for women than men, in particular those expressions which are highly affective and likely evoke stereotypes of women as "overly emotional" We summarize our work in a new Harvard Business Review article, including recommendations for what organizations can do to fix the gendered passion bias: https://lnkd.in/eT7DAdsq 1. Prioritize clear and objective criteria. Where possible, focus on concrete and objective indicators to evaluate potential rather than using subjective criteria like passion. 2. Encourage direct conversations over emotional displays. Rather than inferring how passionate and hardworking an employee appears to be based on their emotional expressions, managers should engage in meaningful conversations with employees to thoroughly gauge their commitment and motivations. 3. Broaden the criteria for high-potential selection. Expand the criteria for evaluating potential to include a mix of personal values, goals, and skill sets, which can help provide a fuller picture of an employee’s qualifications. 4. Conduct regular bias audits. Implement regular assessments of high-potential programs to identify gender or other biases in their selection process. 5. Consider raising the bar for moderately performing men. Given that reasonably high-performing men often receive an added boost from expressing passion, consider raising the performance bar for this group — for instance, by expecting higher levels of diligence commensurate with expectations for women.

I recently changed my mind. If you follow me, you know I’m against highly selective emerging leader programs. In general, dumping time and $ into selectivity is a bad investment: 1. You spend your budget on I/O psychologists and assessments to eliminate interested talent (when you could just use that $ to include more people). 2. You end up with a smaller pipeline of prepared leaders. 3. You may even turn off interested talent by rejecting them. But, but, but…Here’s a notable exception from a mid-size pharma company’s sales department: You create a two-stage program that funnels talent toward leadership: 1️⃣ You offer a broad aspiring leader program. This is for anyone and everyone interested in becoming a leader. There are no qualifications, no screening, and no selection. The goal here is to show ICs what it’s like to be a leader and to train them in critical self-leadership skills like Growth mindset, resilience, and EQ. 2️⃣ You create a selective emerging leader program. This program is much more selective and for pre-identified talent. In other words, this is the group of people who has been through the first level of training AND still wants to be a leader AND is identified as high potential by their manager (I won’t get into detail on HOW to go about selection in this post). --- Most companies are choosing one of the above. Or creating one program that falls somewhere between the two. But, if you can do both, the advantages are massive! Your broader program: - gives people the chance to opt out of people leadership - opens up a high quality development opportunity to all of your ICs - creates a natural funnel toward that more selective program Your more selective program: - will be full of people who you know are willing to step into a people leader role - can tackle higher-level topics assuming the baseline of skill development in your previous program - can replace your first-line leader turnover I’m open to more selective emerging leader programs, but only if they occur after a broader development opportunity (preferably for ALL ICs). I just don’t want to see companies screen out on potentially great leaders! P.S. Follow me, Kevin Kruse, for more leadership development posts like this one.

"We're losing some of our best people, and I think I know why..." Had a fascinating coffee chat with a CHRO this week, where she shared "we keep identifying high-potentials, but they're walking out the door faster than everyone else. What are we missing?" The data tells the story. According to The Talent Strategy Group's newest research: 👉 While companies identify about 15% of leaders as high-potential, THREE-QUARTERS of organizations admit that less than half of these valued employees have real development plans 👉 A staggering 55% of companies have zero accountability for managers when it comes to developing their team members As my CHRO friend put it: "We're essentially saying 'Congratulations on your potential! Now figure out how to grow it yourself.'" No wonder they leave. What's working? She's implementing three changes that are already showing results: 1. Shifting from vague "high-potential" labels to specific growth conversations 2. Making managers accountable in performance reviews for team development. 3. Ensuring every HiPo has experiences (not just training) that stretch their capabilities "The moment we started treating development as a real business priority instead of HR nice-to-have, retention improved." What's your experience? Are you seeing high-potentials leave for "greener pastures", or have you found ways to keep them engaged? Would love to hear your thoughts. #TalentRetention #LeadershipDevelopment #RealTalk #TalentManagement