How to Keep Your Top Talent

Practically every company these days has some form of program designed to nurture high-potential employees. But a recent study by the Corporate Executive Board demonstrates that nearly 40% of internal job moves made by people identified by their companies as "high potentials" end in failure. Disengagement within this cohort of employees also is remarkable: One in three emerging stars reported feeling disengaged from his or her company. Even more striking, 12% of all the high potentials in the study said they were actively searching for a new job--suggesting that as the economy rebounds and the labor market warms up, organizations may see their most promising employees take flight in large numbers. Why do companies have so much trouble bringing along their next generation of leaders? The Corporate Executive Board's research showed that senior managers make misguided assumptions about these employees and take actions on their behalf that actually hinder their development. When dealing with high-potential employees, firms tend to make six common errors: assuming that all of them are highly engaged, equating current performance with future potential, delegating the management of high potentials down in the organization, shielding promising employees from early derailment, expecting stars to share the pain of organization-wide cutbacks, and failing to link high potentials and their careers to corporate strategy. These mistakes can doom a company's talent investments to irrelevance--or worse.

Here are some things you should do to keep your top talent on track:

1. don't just assume they are engaged - give them stimulating work, a chance to prosper, and recognition or they will walk
2. don't mistake current high performance for future potential - test candidates for ability, engagement, and aspiration
3. don't delegate talent development to line managers - this will limit the talents access to senior members
4. don't shield talent - place talent in live fire roles
5. don't assume top talent will take one for the team - compensate top talent differently and creatively
6. don't keep young leaders in the dark - share strategy with them

How does your talent management program stack up against these areas? If you think your program needs a thorough review you should click on the link above and read this article in detail.