Identify and Develop High Potential Employees

Shawna Lake
3 min readMay 19, 2022

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Preparing Future Leaders for Success

Every company wants to make sure they’re hiring the best possible candidates, but it can be hard to identify potential leaders when unsure what to look for in candidates or future needs. Therefore, it’s crucial to develop an internal candidate pool so that you’re always prepared for future leadership roles. But how do you identify high potential employees?

By using succession planning tools and techniques, you can identify employees who have the potential to take on more responsibility in the future. Preparing these employees for future success will ensure that your company remains strong in the event of unexpected departures or vacancies.

1. What is succession planning and why is it important?

Succession planning is a process that identifies high-potential employees and ensures they are prepared to take on more significant roles as leadership positions become available. This is important because it allows your company to maintain continuity in unexpected departures or vacancies. By preparing future leaders for success, you’re ensuring that your company will remain strong no matter what happens.

2. How can you identify high potential employees?

There are many ways to identify high potential employees, but some of the most common methods include using performance metrics, conducting interviews, and succession planning tools.

Future leaders tend to exhibit several signs of potential, such as performing at a higher level than expected for their job; developing new skills quickly; seeking out opportunities to gain experience and grow; going out of their way to help others and inspire those around them, and eagerly taking on more responsibility.

3. How can you prepare high-potential employees for future success?

There are many ways to prepare high-potential employees for future success. Still, some of the most common strategies include developing their skillsets, identifying opportunities for professional growth, and providing mentorship.

High potential employees need to be provided with resources to develop new skills to take on more significant roles when the opportunity arises. They need to be allowed to learn, grow, and improve for your company to prepare them for future success.

4. Benefits of having an internal candidate pool

The hiring process can be challenging and time-consuming, so hiring the best candidate for a role has never been more critical.

By developing an internal candidate pool, you ensure that your company will always have access to world-class talent from within your organization. When the right opportunity arises, you will already have employees who are prepared to take on larger roles.

5. Tips for developing an effective succession plan

Developing a succession plan is essential for hiring the best possible candidates.

- Be proactive when hiring new employees who have the potential to become future leaders.

- Assess pre-existing employees for leadership potential and offer them opportunities to grow their skillset.

- Use hiring tools that allow you to identify high potential employees earlier in their tenure with your organization.

There are several ways to ensure that you’re hiring effective leaders but developing an internal candidate pool is one way to help ensure that your organization will always be prepared for future leadership roles. By identifying and training high potential employees, you’ll be able to consistently hire top talent while also maintaining continuity in unexpected departures or vacancies.

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Shawna Lake
Shawna Lake

Written by Shawna Lake

Founder of Deep End Talent Strategies-keeping job seekers and employers connected to what the other side needs and wants in today’s job market.

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