1. HR Leadership Council Corporate Leadership Council © 2011 The Corporate Executive Board Company. All Rights Reserved. Identifying High Potential Employees Prepare to Identify your HIPO Employees High Potentials have the Greatest Impact on Business Outcomes Business leaders indicate that HIPOs are 50% more valuable to the business than core employees. This is because HIPO employees exhibit 21% higher performance levels leading to enhanced business outcomes such as outperforming revenue targets. Of all the talent management activities business leaders can perform, identifying and managing HIPO talent has the largest impact on achieving positive business outcomes. Continuously Identify HIPOs After your manager communicates the criteria for the selection of HIPOs, ensure that you understand all standards as well as the leadership needs of the organization Discuss the effective assessment techniques for proactively identifying HIPO talent with your manager High Potential Identification and Nomination Process Ability—A combination of the innate characteristics and learned skills that employees use to carry out their day-to-day work Engagement—The extent to which employees are committed to something or someone in the organization Aspiration—The extent to which an employee wants or desires prestige and recognition in the organization, advancement and influence, financial rewards, and work-life balance An effective HIPO identification process typically includes the following: Key Considerations Substantiate nominations with specific examples and ensure that there is no rating bias attached to the nominations Keep HR informed during the nomination and calibration sessions and coordinate with HR during the HIPO interviews involving your direct reports Although organizations typically have an annual HIPO nomination process as a part of their formal performance reviews, manager should continuously assess and propose changes to the HIPO pool based on employees’ recent performance and the organization’s objectives. In order to ensure effective HIPO identification and reduce rating bias, you should first understand and clarify the selection criteria and methods involved in the process. Remove all ambiguity attached to the selection criteria and process before nominating a potential HIPO employee: Nominate Selected Direct Reports as HIPOs Complete the HIPO nomination form, rating the employee on the established leadership competencies and his/her ability, engagement, and aspiration. As a manager, you will need to observe and identify your high potential direct reports. To make sure you identify and nominate the right individuals, you should assess them on the following three parameters: Nominations are Approved by your Manager Nominations are Rejected by your Manager Understand the Mismatch Review and address inappropriate nominations. Create Development Plans For approved nominations, identify development opportunities.

2. HR Leadership Council Corporate Leadership Council © 2011 The Corporate Executive Board Company. All Rights Reserved. Checklist to Help Identify and Nominate HIPOs Identifying High Potential Employees Use these characteristics to identify HIPOs and nominate them for your organization’s high-potential employee development program.  Greater capability to inspire others  Competent at reading others and responding appropriately  Strategic thinker  Superior skills to work with unclear, contradictory, and inconsistent information  Greater proficiency at articulating and defending ideas  Greater facility to manage difficult employees  Speaks highly of the organization  Organization means a great deal to the employee  Proud to work for the organization  Thinks organization is the best place to develop skills  Thinks organization to be the best for career  Helps coworkers with heavy workloads and volunteers for additional duties  Does not think staying with the organization is a matter of necessity  Desires to rise to a senior position  Cares less about recognition outside organization  Desires to be recognized as a great manager and an expert  Shows that he/she is ready to handle an increase in responsibilities Criteria to Distinguish HIPO Employees ABILITY ENGAGEMENT ASPIRATION Criteria applicable to junior employees:  Capable of distilling complex materials  Takes burden off managers Criteria applicable to junior employees:  Desires to interact with important clients  Desires to have influence on key decisions  Desires to stick to core competencies 