In a recent study by DDI, 86% of high potential employees are feeling burnout. And high potential employees are twice as likely to leave compared to their peers.
With employee turnover exploding across the Corporate America, companies are starting to realize they need to step up their retention efforts for their best talent. Human Resource departments are incorrectly assuming the HR procedures, which are focused on the general population of the company, are also positively impacting their best talent. They are not!
Companies need to spend more time focused on their top talent, their High Potential Talent.
Here are some High Potential talent assumptions companies are mistakenly making:
- Engagement – “High Potential talent is driving the business and showing extra effort in comparison to others, so they must be engaged and bought into their career at the company.”
- INCORRECT: High Potentials will continue to perform, but when they are exhausted, they will also evaluate their options. And they do have options!
- Compensation – “With each annual review, our top performers get a higher percentage of the 3% average pay increase. Therefore, we assume they are well compensated.”
- INCORRECT: High potentials need to be the top end of your pay scales and it is dangerous to assume without further analysis!
- Challenging Work – “Our High Potential talent is working on the most complex projects and therefore learning on the job to be leaders.”
- INCORRECT: Many High Potentials are drowning in busy work that is below their capabilities. Companies are addicted to their productivity. High Potentials are looking for a more complex and elevated challenge.
- Development – “Through mentoring and a good boss, our top talent is being developed and expanding their skills.”
- INCORRECT: High Potential talent need a blended learning approach for true development. They need to try new skills and potentially learn by failing, which is challenging when all their work is heavily tied to the bottom line. They need workshops, executive coaching, mentoring, and 360 assessments to expand their skills.
GamePlan Leader, LLC is partnering with companies to conduct analysis on High Potential talent and building customized recommendations and solutions for companies of all sizes. We are interviewing High Potential talent to understand how their companies can best invest in and retain these important employees. If you need this analysis at your company, email mheydt@gameplanleader.com