Selecting high-potential talents and training the next generation of business leaders is the most important thing.
However, it is disappointing that according to authoritative statistics, nearly 40% of domestic high-potential talent development projects have not achieved the expected success. Therefore, it is urgent for us to explore the root causes of the failure of the high-potential talent training project and identify the key factors of its success.
From the end, the definition was successful.
Undeniably, a considerable number of high-potential talent projects are not based on the real strategic needs of enterprises, but simply follow the trend to imitate competitors, which is blind and lacks pertinence. Before planning the high-potential talent project, we did not consider how to define success and efficiency, and how to measure success through specific quantitative indicators, which led to the loss of focus and motivation in the implementation process, and finally ended hastily. In fact, only by clearly defining success, taking the expected "success" as a guide to action, and persistently implementing it, can we approach success step by step.
Case: Amazon, a fortune 500 company, has a "fantastic" rule: when any project is started, it is necessary to prepare an internal press release and imagine how to announce important results to the media after the project is successful. This regulation forces the project manager to define success first, so that all team members can reach the direction of their efforts first and start from the end to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of project implementation.
Generally speaking, we can measure the success of high-potential talent training projects from three dimensions:
1. On-the-job performance of high-potential talents includes leadership characteristics, target performance and engagement.
2. The mobile retention rate of high-potential talents in the organization, the number of promotions, the number of job transfers, the number of key positions, and the number of positions promoted to senior management. In addition, the recruitment cycle of company management positions can also reflect the talent pool construction of internal leadership echelon.
3. Operating results include customer satisfaction, market share, turnover, overall profit rate and other indicators.
The above are general indicators for reference only.
Enterprises should choose, develop and use the most suitable indicators to define success according to their long-term development strategy and strategic business, and constantly optimize and improve it year after year in practice.
Put the input and output of quasi-high potential talents
We believe that the core goal of the high-potential talent training project should be to train and transport strategic reserve leaders for enterprises.
At the beginning of the project, it is necessary to determine which employees can enter the high-potential talent project; In the later stage of the project, the promotion matching degree of high-potential talents should be evaluated. Only by establishing a unified screening and evaluation standard and grasping the talent input and output of high-potential projects can we ensure the quality of the talent pool and realize the success of the project.
The conventional methods for selecting high-potential talents include: supervisor nomination, 360 evaluation, performance index benchmarking, personality test, evaluation center, etc. To evaluate the promotion matching degree of high-potential talents, we can consider whether they have completed the corresponding course study, internal job rotation, degree and development project ability improvement, as well as the overall evaluation of their line supervisors, colleagues and customers. In the era of information and knowledge, there are many methods and tools, and the cost, difficulty and objective effect of each tool and method are different. What is important is that we will match or design the appropriate combination of tools and methods according to the enterprise's own situation.
Create effective learning opportunities within the organization
At present, most enterprises' high-potential talent programs will provide diversified and developmental work exercises and learning opportunities to establish a good learning experience. The project design will restore the real typical task scenarios as much as possible, and provide safe and effective trial and error scenarios for high-potential talents.
Some institutions have investigated the overall feedback of domestic high-potential talent projects, and about 50% of the learning takes place in real and challenging work task scenarios. To achieve the task, let high-potential talents have a sense of urgency to learn new job skills, seek internal and external resources, participate in learning spontaneously, and constantly improve their on-the-job practice. About 25% of learning is obtained by observing and imitating others (such as bosses, leaders, colleagues, etc.). ) In a real work scene, and 5% of learning takes place in solving difficult problems at work. It can be seen that even if a high-potential talent training program covers many learning projects, it cannot guarantee that students can learn effectively.
Really effective learning occurs more in real work situations, when you effectively assume your job responsibilities. The most effective way is to put high-potential talents in a new working environment and give them responsibilities that they have never experienced before, and really take responsibility for the results. This is the real learning opportunity.
Of course, some enterprises do not have the strength to absorb the operating losses in this process. The alternative is to let high-potential talents play an auxiliary role in various learning projects and symbolically assume some responsibilities.
What is really related to succession planning
The so-called high-potential talents refer to employees who have good potential to develop into future business leaders of enterprises. It can be seen that the high-potential talent project and the successor plan are inseparable. However, in reality, many high-potential talent development projects come to an abrupt end after the selection and training stage, which has nothing to do with successor planning, or just stays on propaganda slogans. This will make participants confused about the goal and significance of the whole project, and over time they will seek career development opportunities from outside.
After the selection and training of high-potential talents is completed, the next step should be to define the next post goal of each high-potential talent, evaluate the matching of high-potential talents according to the responsibilities of this specific post, find out the gap, design accurately and accelerate development.
The two stages of selection and training are generally based on enterprise capability model or leader model, which is closely related to the new role of high-potential talents and will be more pragmatic.
The first 100 implementation plan
Even if high-potential talents have been promoted to new posts, how to successfully pass the role adaptation period is still a huge challenge. The design of high-potential talent projects should be extended to this stage to ensure that the previous investment can really be effective. This stage needs to be considered from the following aspects:
1. Familiar with business. Define the strategic focus and core business, and gradually carry out the work on this basis.
2. Establish a network of interpersonal relationships. Help newly promoted high-potential talents to integrate into the organization, know key decision makers and establish interpersonal networks.
3. Cultivate non-authoritative leaders. Help newly promoted and potential talents to continuously improve their non-post leadership in the working environment.
4. Keep learning. Look for learning opportunities at work and keep learning and improving.
The role adaptation and transition before 100 days is crucial, and strong support will greatly increase the chances of success. Therefore, the project of high-potential talents should be extended from selection, training and specific job training to the first 100-day plan to ensure that high-potential talents can be transformed into a new generation of leaders and continue to drive organizational performance.
What will happen if it fails?
No matter how perfect a high-potential talent project is, there is no guarantee that every participant will succeed. So what should we do if some high-potential talents fail again and again in this process?
Our first consideration is whether we should give him another chance. If there are mistakes in the selection process, employees really don't have some very important abilities/qualities, and they can't be promoted in the short term, and they are unlikely to succeed in the long run. In this case, it may be necessary to communicate frankly with each other and remove them from the list of high-potential training projects.
Thirdly, if there is still room for shaping and cultivating this high-potential talent, then in this case, it is the key to help him rebuild his self-confidence. Provide sincere feedback, sum up and learn from the failed experience, find the blind spot of ability, and gradually improve and upgrade. More importantly, let him find another job that is more suitable for his ability and let him complete challenging tasks. In this process, he continued to supervise and provide effective support to help him achieve his performance goals.