A common mistake is to correlate good or excellent performance to high potential and/or average performance to a lack of potential. The best leaders have learned how to separate these two unique measures, and how to effectively communicate this within their organization.

Performance

This category is pretty clear. You can readily assess someone’s performance against your expectations, the agreed-to metrics and KPIs, and the outcomes their actions are generating. As a reminder, be careful not to confuse activities and results. Your direct report may be very “busy,” filling their days and weeks with lots of action. But are the actions appropriately directed? Are the actions delivering meaningful outcomes? And are outcomes aligned to the most important goals for the organization?

Let us say your Assistant Vice President (AVP), Marketing is generating great results. She is seen as collaborative by the operations team. Growth in market share is higher than plan, and your surveys indicate growing brand recognition in your target markets. The employee engagement survey shows high levels of trust. Does she have the potential to take on increased responsibility? Could she operate successfully as Executive Vice President of Corporate Services in two to three years? Her strong performance across multiple categories is an indicator that she has potential, but you need to consider other factors. More on that in a moment.

Conversely, your Chief Information Officer (CIO) is generating expected results. He is not knocking it out of the park, but he is not falling far short either. Projects are typically completed on time and on budget. There have been no security breaches since he took on the role. His staff are technically strong and highly engaged. He has recruited some skilled members to the IT team. You are not sure if his performance warrants him being considered high potential.

Identifying potential

Your AVP has a strong marketing background. In fact, that is the area in which she has the most business acumen. She is relatively new to your industry and has initiated successful practices from other industries. Her demonstrated influence and collaboration position her well for more senior roles in the organization. Executives are rarely able to move mountains under their own steam; they are reliant upon support from their colleagues, and often require resources from other business units. She would benefit from learning other parts of the business, particularly growing her financial acumen and knowledge of operations. That being the case, her next move in the organization should provide an opportunity to broaden her skills. That will enable the senior executives to further assess her capabilities, and will better position her for a larger scope of responsibility in the future.

Your CIO has been in the role for 24 months. In his fifteenth year with the company, he has led the operations team, has had P&L accountability, and successfully led the marketing division for three years. While he is not a stellar CIO, he has brought a new perspective to the IT department.

In the past, while technically brilliant, the team had little exposure to, or understanding of, a day in the life on the front line. The team sought to create elegant technical solutions that often required considerable investment, thus lessening the ROI. As well, the focus of the IT group was primarily on the customer experience, with little consideration for front-line staff. The CIO has changed this for the better.

Under the CIO, employee engagement has increased among front-line staff. They feel their needs are now recognized. As a result, their customer interactions have improved. This is a success story. The CIO has achieved what you hoped, and he has built relationships in a new part of the organization. Based on his success, in current and prior roles, barring any issues not identified here, he should be identified as being a high potential candidate for more senior roles.

My best clients conduct a talent assessment annually. As part of this process, we review succession plans, and we identify high potential candidates, those who would benefit from a lateral move, those who are well placed, and those whose performance requires improvement. Following that, documented development plans are created for every management and executive level employee.

© 2020 Lorraine A. Moore. All rights reserved. Permission granted to excerpt or reprint with attribution.

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