Talent Management - December 2008 - (Page 39)

How to Tell a High Potential ‘You’re the One’ Lindsay Edmonds Wickman If an organization decides to tell top performers they are high potential, it’s important talent leaders are well-versed in how to conduct that conversation. If mishandled, it could have negative effects on the organization. “You just have to sit down with the individual and say, ‘We, the leadership team, [have] done a review of our top leadership across the organization, and we feel based on a number of factors that you could have the ability to take on a more senior position,’” said Ken Driscoll, the director of the talent management group at Navistar Inc., an international truck and engine corporation. “You have to make sure you’re very clear that this is our [organization’s] view at this point in time, and it could change depending upon your performance.” Lynne Morton, co-founder and chief operating ofﬁcer at TalentScope, said this tactic can help avoid an implied promise that can result from a mismanaged meeting. She said managers also should walk into the conversation armed with information and data. “The best conversations are conversations that are informed,” Morton said. “If I can show you data, it makes sense to you. It’s not something that falls out of the sky in a vacuum. Otherwise, if I have a conversation with you that is a surprise, you might not understand why you’ve been earmarked, and you’d only rely on your own expectations.” It’s also critical that organizations give talent managers conducting these conversations the tools to be successful, Driscoll said. “I believe if we were to go in [this] direction, it would have to be in line with our cultural values and how we treat people at the very basic,” he said. “And it would give managers talking points to help them through what could be an interesting conversation, broad guidelines [and] also help leadership understand why it’s important.” Some organizations tell high potentials the whole story and others don’t. At integrated health care delivery organization Central Maine Medical Family, managers chosen for the Accelerated Development Group are not told they are being groomed for a speciﬁc position. “In a smaller organization like ours, it’s very important to develop people not only for a new title, but rather for a change in scope of service, a change in management of particular divisions or departments, [and] development of more generic leadership skills that could be transferred department to department,” said Joyce McPhetres, the vice president of HR and organizational development. “Our Accelerated Development Group is basically told that we see them as leaders of our future, and our goal in this program [is] to develop them more fully: their skills, their leadership and their opportunities with an unspeciﬁed commitment to a title.” But that doesn’t mean an organization shouldn’t tell high potentials they are being groomed for speciﬁc positions if the leaders are committed to the decision. “If there are people within your organization that are heir apparent to particular positions, I think it’s absolutely critical to talk with them about that, to commit — if the organization is willing — to their development for that future position and to garner their level of interest,” McPhetres said. talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 39 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - December 2008

Talent Management - December 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Recruitment & Retention Assessment & Evaluation Compensation & Benefits Performance Management Learning & Development Succession Planning Insight Dashboard Application Advertiser's Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - December 2008

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