Developing & Retaining High-Potential Employees

If you are an employer or a recruiter, you know how hard it is to get the right talent. You roll out a vacancy on Indeed or LinkedIn, and your inbox is flooded with applications. Yet, only a few make it past the necessary filters you put out for your organization.

Sounds familiar? That’s because your organization isn’t the only one struggling to find the right talent. The market is scarce of high-potential applicants, and if you do manage to find them, then you need to make efforts to retain them.

Companies often believe that paying money to the candidates does the task. That’s not the complete equation. If you want your organization to flourish, then you need to identify high-potential talent and then make efforts to develop their skills and make them an asset.

This article draws a roadmap to developing and retaining employees that brim potential:

Encourage Working in Teams

People with high potential usually know their worth and are a little restless when it comes to growth. They want to develop all the time, and a little stagnancy can motivate them to switch. If you have someone with high-potential working for you, then you need to pair him or her up with the right people.

The thing with potential is that it needs to be channeled in the right direction. When an employee gets mentored the right way, they see the potential for growth, and that becomes their motivation to stay.

Ensure Employee Appreciation

It’s heart-wrenching for high-potential workers to be put out in the corner somewhere and not be appreciated enough. If you truly want your star worker to stay with you for a long time, then you need to make them come under the spotlight.

When great employees have their work recognized, they aren’t much motivated to leave you to explore the markets. Also, ensure that they are sufficiently challenged. High potential employees don’t come to the office to do the bare minimum and leave. They are there to shine and make it up the hierarchy as soon as they can.

By giving them the opportunity to rise up the ranks, you keep them focused on a goal. This will ensure that they don’t feel much motivated to explore other options.

Bridge Communication Gaps

Seldom you’ll come across someone with immense potential who’s dumb enough not to understand the situation. A sharp person knows the situation they are in and will always act accordingly. High-potential employees are fast to switch if the employers play corporate games with them.

To ensure that they stay, be open with them. Don’t try and overshadow their work. Also, train your managers to be supportive of the right talent rather than be intimidated by it. Tell your star workers that they have a lot of potential, and watch them tie knots with you for a long time.

Invest In Their Learning

Make sure that the star employee indulges in steady learning throughout the course of the job. By doing so, you show them that their talents are important and that they are an asset to the business. That’s one way to develop and retain them!

Compensate Them Sufficiently

Last but not least, don’t peg the rope that leads to their benefit. After all, people work to seek certain benefits that motivate them to stay and work for their employer. If you believe that your star deserves a raise, then do it before they ask for it.

When someone is appreciated without asking for it then that’s a motivator for them to stay and work harder. If their efforts go unnoticed, then they’ll soon be hunting for an organization that appreciates their work.

Recruiting and getting the right talent for your organization isn’t an easy chore. If you ask an HR professional, they’ll tell you how painful it is when a competent resource leaves the organization. If you are fortunate enough to get someone that oozes potential, then follow the above-mentioned tips to help them grow and eventually keep them working for you for as long as possible.