Part of the talent strategy cluster. This is educational, operational guidance that connects to the wider site — the employee lifecycle, employer operations, metrics and templates.
Adapt it to your strategy, capability needs and context.
Why it matters
At the executive level, identifying and developing high-potential talent decides whether the business has the people it needs to deliver. A clear strategy turns capability needs into priorities and programs, instead of reacting role-by-role.
Strategy connects capability to outcomes.
Key concepts
- Fair identification of potential.
- Targeted development.
- Retention of high-potentials.
- A pipeline for key roles.
Operational framework
- Set the strategic objectives and target capabilities.
- Map current vs needed capability.
- Design the programs and priorities to close the gap.
- Connect to workforce planning and the lifecycle.
- Govern, measure and report on a cadence.
Workforce considerations
- How potential is identified fairly.
- How high-potentials are developed.
- How they are retained.
- How the program is governed.
Common challenges
- Biased identification.
- Labels without development.
- Losing high-potentials.
- Opaque criteria.
Best practices
- Identify potential fairly and transparently.
- Pair identification with development.
- Retain deliberately.
- Govern the program.
Common mistakes
- Biased selection.
- Labels, no development.
- Ignoring retention.
- Opaque criteria.
Measure this with the employee development metrics metric, put it into practice with the employee development plan template, and run it as a system via employee development plans.
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