Strategies to retain your High Potential Employees

             It is important to create strategies to retain your high potential employees, because they are not like your any other employee, those who get easily attracted with high salary, benefits or recognition, because for them, these things can be replicated in any other company as well. High potential employees are inclined towards lots of exposure, responsibility and access to new learning & knowledge. Challenging assignments inspires them.

 Definition of High Potential employees


"Consistently and significantly outperform their peer group in a variety of setting and circumstances... They exhibit behavior that reflect their companies culture and values in an exemplary manner.Moreover, they show a strong capacity to grow and succeed throughout their career within an organization more quickly and effectively than they peer group do."

The Corporate leader council of the corporate executive broad surveyed 800 high potential employees and results were:-

•  More than 25 % said they want to change their jobs in next 12 months
• Among dissatisfied, 64% said their current experience doesn't include opportunities to more direct influence their career and more challenging assignment that has real risk and reward
• Engagement level measured by assessing the level of passion and discretionary effect, reduced by 30% in a year

Companies are facing these attrition of high potential employees because strategies implemented for these employees are similar to average employees retention strategies.

Strategies to Retain High Potential Employees

•  Make them feel special

Employers needs to formally tell their high potential employees, that they are special for the organization, those who don't pay a high attrition rate. Top management at least once or twice meet personally their high potential employees.

"Hug your high potential employees because if you don't someone else will. Make them know, you don't want to do business without them."

•  Instead of directing them work, they should be accountable for the work.

High potential employees thrive when they are truly accountable for something. But if you tell them what to do instead of being assigned to direct or co direct, you have prepared them to do mistakes.They have the ability to succeed on their own...

General Mills give their high potential employees which are "really meaty assignment". They move them across borders, give them cross assignment into new areas and take them out of the business they know and put them into new assignments.

• Learning and advancement should be parallel to their career growth.

Establish talent or "acceleration" pools. It isolate high potential employees for special treatment in the early phase of their career without earmarking them for one particular job.
     Acceleration pool  offer flexibility, guarantee more Candidates for jobs that opens up and enhance retention. People in this type of job are "so engaged that they tend not to look outside." As soon as they complete one assignment, they are on another job."

• Focus on developing attributes leaders

Corporate leaders typically look to the top rated 3% to 5% of their employees as Candidates for fast tracking - Harvard Business Review.

High potential employees are savvy, they read the business press from headhunters regularly and communicate with colleagues. they know what they want from development program. Keep their desires in balance with companies objectives.

At General Mills, they stretch high potential employees by encouraging them to take leadership roles or local broads. The development that occur in those roles is powerful.

 This articles is based on case study by Robert I Grossman.