How to Identify, Grow and Retain HIPO Teams? (Part 1)

How many HIPO employees does your company have? Every organization has employees that stand out from the crowd. These are people who are productive, others have outstanding skills and mindsets. They are valuable people to your organization, but not all of them can be classified as “high potential” employees – HIPO. This series of articles will help you discover what HIPO employees are and how you can recognize, develop, and retain them starting today.

Who is HIPO?
Potential employees (High-Potential Employee, abbreviated HIPO) are those who are identified with the ability, motivation and aspiration to hold leadership and management positions in the company. They are quick thinkers, proactive and possess outstanding and outstanding soft skills.

Each organization may have different ways of identifying the HIPO group, but usually this group has common characteristics to identify. A Harvard Business Review study identified three key signs of HIPOs as follows:

• Competencies: HIPO employees have the skills, knowledge and competencies necessary to take on or develop to a leadership position. They often have high IQ and EQ and can easily absorb new knowledge and apply it to their work. At work, they often show a different vision and creative thinking.
• Social Skills: The HIPO team has the necessary social skills to manage themselves and others. Among them is the ability to withstand pressure and deal with adversity. They have an image of integrity and are able to develop and maintain positive, collaborative relationships with colleagues.
• Aspiration (Motivation):   They have a working style, progress and ambition to successfully fulfill their role in order to step up the higher “stairs” in the company. HIPO groups are often willing to face and trade personal difficulties for career advancement.

Distinguish between high potential employees and high performing employees
By definition, a high potential employee is a high performer, however not all high performers are high potential employees. A person may be excellent at their job, but don’t have the leadership skills, self-esteem or motivation needed to move up the ladder.

Companies often mistake high-performing employees for high-potential employees, which is an unnecessary and “expensive” mistake. Even if your employees do an excellent job, without the necessary management skills, it is impossible to lead a team. For example, a brilliant employee in a company’s sales department may not have the necessary skills to motivate and manage a sales team. However, if they are promoted to a management role, they may face difficulties despite their own high performance as a salesperson.

How to determine HIPO?
Identifying the HIPO group is beneficial for businesses. Leaders can save time and resources by focusing on nurturing and developing HIPO employees so they are ready to take on leadership roles when the time comes, instead of having to find and hire someone outside the organization. . Here are some key characteristics to identify potential employees – HIPO:

• They want to seize leadership opportunities
• They are willing and want to invest in the company’s values and future
• They perform well in a pressurized environment
• They are intelligent and emotionally sensitive (EQ)
• They always want to develop and learn new skills
• They know how to give constructive feedback
• They are receptive to suggestions and know how to improve work performance
• They are good at taking initiative and managing work

…to be continued

Source: Personio, compiled and compiled by GEM Global