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. Agenda. Who are the “ high potential ” employees? Do they matter? Can we identify them? How do we motivate them?. HiPo Hype…. HiPo Hype…. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING HIGH POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES
Robert Hogan, PhD(with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic)
Hogan Assessment Systems
Agenda
1. Who are the “high potential” employees?
2. Do they matter?3. Can we identify them?4. How do we motivate them?
HiPo Hype…
HiPo Hype…
“A strategic focus on employee potential is the single thing an organization can do to maximize current and future performance.”
Corporate Board
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
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)
20% of the workforce = 80% of the productivity.
80% of the workforce = 20% of the productivity.
HiPo’s
the rest
Defining HiPo’s
• To define HiPo’s, we must distinguish between perceptions & real attributes…
(Mis)Perceptions of HiPo’s
“The top performers of today”
Mmmm….1. only 30% of those
are real HiPo’s 2. and just 20% with
“people skills”3. 90% don’t perform
well at next level
(Mis)Perceptions of HiPo’s
Bad news: Every company has a HiPo model
Good news: They are all the same
The DNA of HiPo’s…
RewardingRewarding SmartSmart ProductiveProductive Leader-likeLeader-like Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
warmtrustworthypredictable
curiousadaptable
fast learner
hardworkingenergetic
high standards
ambitiousresilient
good judgment
creativeopportunisti
cvisionary
Note: Cultural variability explains more emphasis on some than others
The DNA of HiPo’s…
RewardingRewarding SmartSmart ProductiveProductive Leader-likeLeader-like Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
warmtrustworthypredictable
curiousadaptable
fast learner
hardworkingenergetic
high standards
ambitiousresilient
good judgment
creativeopportunisti
cvisionary
SensitivityAdjustmentSociability
InquisitiveLearning approach
AmbitionPrudence
Adjustment (-)
AmbitionSociabilitySensitivity
InquisitivePrudence (-)Sociability
Excitable (-)Bold (-)
Reserved (-)
ImaginativeSkeptical
DutifulDiligent (-)
Bold
MischievousColorful
Bold
InquisitivePrudence (-)Sociability
AffiliationAltruism
Hedonism
ScienceAesthetics
RecognitionSecurity
Commerce
PowerRecognitionCommerce
Tradition (-)AestheticsSecurity (-)
Global Norms
The DNA of HiPo’s is more or less global
Small difference: Asians more intense, creative (entrepreneurial) and fun than English speaking Western samples
Bright Side Global Norms
Dark Side Global Norms
Core Values Global Norms
Politics Distort High Potential Identification
• Performance appraisals are influenced by office politics (surprise, surprise…)
• HiPo nominations don’t predict performance
•Valid tests do
Consequences of poor HiPo identification
• Failing to identify true HiPo’s causes them to leave for a competitor
• Identifying “fake” HiPo’s alienates coworkers (especially true HiPo’s)
Managing and Developing High Potentials
• Engagement key to retaining HiPo’s • Good leadership creates engagement
(but it is rare)
The Contexts of Leadership
• Leadership is more important in certain contexts than others — sometimes people need to be left alone.
• Consider the next slide—which shows that engagement is the key to retaining HIPOs.
CONDITIONAL LEADERSHIP MATRIX
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.
Engagement as a State
Energy and persistencePositive affect and involvementEnthusiasm and prideA sense of empowermentFinding 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.
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
Why should we care about Engagement?
• It’s the “g” factor in organizational life.• It’s predicts every important business
outcome (good & bad)• It predicts individual and unit
outcomes: absenteeism, turnover, productivity, and ratings of customer satisfaction.
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.
Leadership Engagement Performance
Where does disengagement come from?
1. boss or supervisor (most frequently cited)
2. no control over work3. bad decisions by upper management
(see 1)4. poor teamwork5. the company (see 1)6. office politics (see 1)7. no accountability
Hogan Leadership Value Chain
28
“When organizations hire and promote bad managers, they alienate employees and undermine their own financial interests.”
Robert Hogan
Good leadership fosters engagement
• Effective leaders:
1. Act with integrity2. Treat people with respect3. Communicate effectively4. Make good decisions5. Take responsibility for their mistakes6. Establish standards and a vision
• Personality predicts effective leadership
Hogan Leadership Value Chain
30
• 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!!
(Mis)managing Engagement
Engagement & HiPos
(a) retention of HiPos is crucial (b) engagement is crucial for
retaining HiPos
HiPo’s could go anywhere else
“To take engagement seriously requires a radical rethink of how managers treat their staff.”
Robert Hogan
Creating a HiPo Culture: 5 rules
1. Use validated methods to identify HIPOs.
2. Don’t rely on current performance.3. Evaluate the colleagues of your HiPo’s 4. Evaluate the managers of your HiPo’s. 5. Senior leadership must support HiPo
engagement.
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
In conclusion
• Personality is key to identifying Hi-Po’s, and those who can identify and manage Hi-Po’s