How to keep your TOP TALENT

An article in the Harvard Business Review magazine this month offers some interesting insights into talent management. The Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) studied 20,000 'emerging stars' in 100 organisations. Their conclusion was that most managers struggle when they try and develop the next generation of leaders because they make misguided assumptions about these employees and take actions that actually hinder their star's development.

CLC identified 6 common mistakes:

• assuming high potentials are highly engaged - one in four intended to leave in a year. They found that many of these employees set very high expectations of the organisation to treat them well and were likely to leave if not. They were confident in their abilities so would happily look for alternative jobs.
• equating current high performance with future potential - 70% were found to lack the critical attributes essential to their success in future roles. CLC identify that you should consider ability, engagement and aspiration in the selection of future talent.
• delegating down the management of top talent - development opportunities and talent is often hoarded by line managers rather than shared.
• shielding rising stars from early derailment - many companies ensure the stars are placed in training assignments that offer a bit of stretch but little risk of failure. However this can mean that they are never truly tested and the company is left with a sizeable group who can't meet the demands of the most challenging opportunities.
• expecting star employees to share the pain - freezing or cutting salaries across all staff can seem fair, but it erodes the engagement of the stars. They put in 20% more effort than other employees so feel they should be rewarded.
• failing to link your stars to your corporate strategy - confidence in their manager and the corporations' strategic capability is one of the strongest factors in engagement.

The report concludes that senior executives need to affirm that 'high potential' is not an acknowledgment of past accomplishment but future contribution. They should challenge and cultivate rising stars not just celebrate current achievement.