Finding an authentic and potentially talented candidate in a crowd is always a critical task since talent is valuable but is not found in equal capacity. High potential candidates turn into highly potential employees and deserve extra attention for management and retention. They need to be developed creatively, engaged creatively to hone their skills and deployed differently to extract maximum potential.
Researchers have indicated that on an average 40% of the high potentials stall or derail soon as they are identified and the predictions about their future success are abysmal. False positives tend to become common. Most of the managers become incapable of distinguishing between their performance and potential. As such, it becomes essential for organizations to review and conclude a framework to accurately identify high potential talent, accelerate their growth and development and help retain those critical employees.
As such, the ability to make precise and accurate predictions about talent should be a key skill for HR professionals. Since this would involve critical decisions like who should you hire? Who should be promoted? Who needs aggressive development? Who will derail? Etc. in spite of rigorous training and experience it is interesting to note that people are complex to understand- they will delight or they will disappoint. Experts have drawn the six-sigma potential traits as a thumb rule for identifying high potentials. This includes cognitive abilities, drive and ambition, competence spirit, personality characteristics, emotional quotient or intelligence quotient and learning or grasping agility.
Above all potential is the key to all managements as it is the ability to adapt and grow into increasingly complex roles, environment, and one of the foremost qualities to selecting the top executives for a company. Talent spotting in the present era needs more than just the right skills; it needs those having the potential to learn new skills.
