IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING HIGH POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES

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IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING HIGH POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES

• Robert Hogan, PhD
• (with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic)
• Hogan Assessment Systems

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Agenda

1. Who are the high potential employees?
2. Do they matter?
3. Can we identify them?
4. How do we motivate them?

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HiPo Hype
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HiPo Hype

• A strategic focus on employee potential is the
  single thing an organization can do to maximize
  current and future performance.
• Corporate Board

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But nothing new

• Assessment psychology always focused on high
  potential
• High potential (probability) that behavior x
  occurs in the future
• Any psychological construct (talent, motivation,
  creativity) predicts future behavior and critical
  incidents
• But this is news to HR

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Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)
20 of the workforce 80 of the productivity.
80 of the workforce 20 of the productivity.
HiPos
the rest
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Defining HiPos

• To define HiPos, we must distinguish between
  perceptions real attributes

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(Mis)Perceptions of HiPos

• The top performers of today
• Mmmm.

• only 30 of those are real HiPos
• and just 20 with people skills
• 90 dont perform well at next level

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(Mis)Perceptions of HiPos

• Bad news Every company has a HiPo model
• Good news They are all the same

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The DNA of HiPos
Rewarding
Smart
Productive
Leader-like
Entrepreneurial
warm trustworthy predictable
curious adaptable fast learner
hardworking energetic high standards
ambitious resilient good judgment
creative opportunistic visionary
Note Cultural variability explains more emphasis
on some than others
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The DNA of HiPos
Rewarding
Smart
Productive
Leader-like
Entrepreneurial
warm trustworthy predictable
curious adaptable fast learner
hardworking energetic high standards
ambitious resilient good judgment
creative opportunistic visionary
Sensitivity Adjustment Sociability
Inquisitive Learning approach
Ambition Prudence Adjustment (-)
Ambition Sociability Sensitivity
Inquisitive Prudence (-) Sociability
Excitable (-) Bold (-) Reserved (-)
Imaginative Skeptical
Dutiful Diligent (-) Bold
Mischievous Colorful Bold
Inquisitive Prudence (-) Sociability
Affiliation Altruism Hedonism
Science Aesthetics
Recognition Security Commerce
Power Recognition Commerce
Tradition (-) Aesthetics Security (-)
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Global Norms

• The DNA of HiPos is more or less global
• Small difference Asians more intense, creative
  (entrepreneurial) and fun than English speaking
  Western samples

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Bright Side Global Norms
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Dark Side Global Norms
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Core Values Global Norms
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Politics Distort High Potential Identification

• Performance appraisals are influenced by office
  politics (surprise, surprise)
• HiPo nominations dont predict performance
• Valid tests do

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Consequences of poor HiPo identification

• Failing to identify true HiPos causes them to
  leave for a competitor
• Identifying fake HiPos alienates coworkers
  (especially true HiPos)

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Managing and Developing High Potentials

• Engagement key to retaining HiPos
• Good leadership creates engagement (but it is
  rare)

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The Contexts of Leadership

• Leadership is more important in certain contexts
  than others sometimes people need to be left
  alone.
• Consider the next slidewhich shows that
  engagement is the key to retaining HIPOs.

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CONDITIONAL LEADERSHIP MATRIX
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Engagement as personality

• Some people engage more than others.
• But calling engagement a trait makes it an
  employee problem (letting management off the
  hook)
• Engagement is a management problem.

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Engagement as a State

• Energy and persistence
• Positive affect and involvement
• Enthusiasm and pride
• A sense of empowerment
• Finding meaning/a sense of purpose

Adapted from Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M.,
Gonzalez-Roma, V., Bakker, A. B. (2002). The
measurement of engagement and burnout A
confirmative analytic approach. Journal of
Happiness Studies, 3, 71-92.
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Engagement ad psychological state

• A relatively persistent psychological state
  associated with behaviors beneficial to an
  organization
• Employee engagement is a function of how people
  are treated by management

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Why should we care about Engagement?

• Its the g factor in organizational life.
• Its predicts every important business outcome
  (good bad)
• It predicts individual and unit outcomes
  absenteeism, turnover, productivity, and ratings
  of customer satisfaction.

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Leadership ? Engagement ? Performance

• Managerial behavior drives employee engagement.
• Employee engagement drives business results.
• Good managers are good for business.
• Bad managers are bad for business.

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Leadership ? Engagement ? Performance
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Where does disengagement come from?

1. boss or supervisor (most frequently cited)
2. no control over work
3. bad decisions by upper management (see 1)
4. poor teamwork
5. the company (see 1)
6. office politics (see 1)
7. no accountability

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Hogan Leadership Value Chain
When organizations hire and promote bad
managers, they alienate employees and undermine
their own financial interests. Robert Hogan
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Good leadership fosters engagement

• Effective leaders
• Act with integrity
• Treat people with respect
• Communicate effectively
• Make good decisions
• Take responsibility for their mistakes
• Establish standards and a vision
• Personality predicts effective leadership

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Hogan Leadership Value Chain
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(Mis)managing Engagement

• 47 of executives think they create engagement
• 57 of middle managers think long-serving
  supervisors cause low engagement
• 84 of respondents think disengaged employees are
  one of the biggest threats to their business
• 12 report that their company tries to deal with
  engagement!!

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Engagement HiPos

• (a) retention of HiPos is crucial
• (b) engagement is crucial for retaining
  HiPos
• HiPos could go anywhere else

To take engagement seriously requires a radical
rethink of how managers treat their
staff. Robert Hogan
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Creating a HiPo Culture 5 rules

1. Use validated methods to identify HIPOs.
2. Dont rely on current performance.
3. Evaluate the colleagues of your HiPos
4. Evaluate the managers of your HiPos.
5. Senior leadership must support HiPo engagement.

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In conclusion

• HiPo identification requires valid empirical
  tools (it is NOT intuitive)
• HiPo management especially motivation and
  retention requires engagement
• Engagement is a function of leadership

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In conclusion

• Personality is key to identifying Hi-Pos, and
  those who can identify and manage Hi-Pos

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Thank you

• robert_at_hoganassessments.com