How to – Keep Your High Potential Performers Unless you’ve been avoiding all forms of news and burying your head under your pillow, you know that the current business climate is downright depressing. Right now, many firms are focused on getting through the next few months, hoping to weather the economic fallout until things show signs of improving. If your firm is paying attention to short term priorities, it probably isn’t too concerned with managing talent. However, if you are concerned about staying competitive now as well as in the future, then developing your high potential performers is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

In the past, leaders were chosen due to their technical skill. Leadership ability was hoped for but rarely the primary criteria for promotion. Difficult economic times and globalization bring with them new competitive pressures and those, in turn, call for leadership development. But is seems that when times are tough, executives vanish rather than engage promising employees.

You can avoid this damaging behavior:

• Meet with one high-potential candidate for lunch each week.

• Create a monthly meeting for future leaders to talk about organizational issues and strategies.

• Ask high potential performers to analyze future market opportunities in developing regions and markets.

• Share information about competitors with potential leaders to give them a “big-picture perspective” of your industry.

• Discuss trends and legislation that impacts your industry with future leaders.


Many industries are going through a difficult time right now, causing the employees with the most promise to ask themselves if they might not be better off somewhere else. If you are the manager of these promising employees, you should think about ways to retain your talent while they are still yours.  10:38 AM •