One of the critical roles of human resource professionals is to ensure that an organisation has the right talent performing the appropriate activities and at the right time. Organisations are striving to attract and manage high potential talent to improve their productivity. The success of a company depends on its ability to attract and retain high potential employees who will drive its agenda to the next level. The management must be aware of the concept of potential employees and how they can position their organisation to take advantage of emerging opportunities that can only be achieved with the right employees. The matter is further complicated by the changing nature of the workforce that calls for managers to rethink their succession planning (Silzer & Church, 2009). Staffing determines the future of an organisation and the human resources must, therefore understand the concept of employee potential and how it can determine their performance and that of the entire organisation.
The concept of employee potential
Several underlying constructs make employee potential. Organisations are determined to identify and develop the talent required to achieve corporate goals and strategies. Companies use potential to imply the possibility of becoming more than what an employee currently is and is used to indicate that individuals can grow and be more than their current status (Silzer & Church, 2009). According to the author, the potential is therefore used to reflect the likelihood for further growth and development to achieve the desired state. Potential is applied as an identifiable construct that is measurable and independent of the expected state. Organisations are spending a significant proportion of their resources to improve the performance of its employees and to identify their strengths and needs with the aim of preparing them for their next responsibility. Organisations are shifting their focus from short-term human resource needs long-term predictions.
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The term potential in the work environment is used to imply the qualities held by an individual that would effectively contribute to the completion of broader roles within an organisation in future. Potential is therefore applied to imply capability in future undertakings. Human resources are tasked with the responsibility of finding talent with the highest potential to ensure the success of an organisation. Potential can be a noun implying that it can actualise in future or it can be an adjective showing that it exist in possibility and can also further develop in actuality (Silzer & Church, 2009). There are instances that the term potential cannot be explicitly defined implying that it is a generic construct that can easily be measured independently.
There are general characteristics that can predict potential in a talent pool. Additionally, there are unique abilities that can predict potential in a career path. Such attributes raise the question of whether potential is a general or specific trait. From an organisational perspective, potential can be defined from different angles including role, level, breadth, record and strategic position (Silzer & Church, 2009). Organisations also categorise potential in high potential individuals according to their unique job levels. Some of the major categories include global leader, mid-management and high value. Other companies designate potential as top potential, turn potential, growth potential and mastery potential.
Assessing Employee potential
Organisations should assess employee potential. Such assessment depends on a clear understanding of the construct. Different assessment tools can be used by an organisation to determine individual characteristics and cognitive abilities. According to Lei & Zhang (2016), there are four different types of tools that can be used by industries to determine potential leaders. The four include assessment and development centres, external assessment tools, company self-developed techniques and 360-degree employee feedback assessment. Any potential assessment must answer the question potential for what? . A clear understanding of the questing will help in the selection of the appropriate metrics. Potential can be assessed on cognitive skills, learning, personality and motivation.
Potential and Performance
There are significant differences between potential and performance in talent management and succession planning. It is common for organisations to measure the primary value of an employee from their performance. However, employers should focus on building a robust talent pipeline by developing high potentials as well as top performers. However, it is difficult to identify high potentials since some of the highly valuable attributes like adaptability, business sense and stress management are not well developed in line managers (Alexander, 2018). High potential is therefore based on the values of a company and consist of unique attributes that differentiate them from top performers. High performers can easily be recognised since they can exceed expectations and liked by the management especially in challenging tasks.
Management must identify high potential employees in their succession planning to understand the developmental needs of such employees. Potential employees must be considered in all the steps of succession planning, and the nine box grid by Motorola can be used to select high potential employees (Silzer & Church, 2009). Their skill set must be used to develop and retain them in the organisation. The management must undertake a delicate balancing act to ensure that potential and job performance are congruent. Managers must ensure that their efforts are tailored to drive the desired results.
Any incongruence that involves a high performer and a low potential can be addressed by keeping the employees at their current positions, encouraging and assigning challenging tasks and developing their soft skills. A low performer and high potential can be solved by pairing with a top performer, aligning new roles with the skill set and trying new responsibilities. A low performer and low potential can be terminated (Alexander, 2018). The management must ensure that the entire process is conducted professionally to avoid demoralising the employees and also to be able to identify all the key attributes that are critical to succession planning.
References
Alexander, H. (2018). Can you identify High Performance vs High Potential Employees ?. Retrieved from https://centennialinc.com/centennial-blog/high-performance-versus-high-potential-employees-can-you-identify-them/
Lei, Y., & Zhang, C. (2016). How Do Organizations Assess for Potential, in addition to a Talent Review Process?. ILR Collection .
Silzer, R., & Church, A. (2009). The Pearls and Perils of Identifying Potential. Industrial And Organizational Psychology , 2 (04), 377-412. doi: 10.1111/j.1754-9434.2009.01163.x
