Orbon Alija/Getty Images
How to identify high-potential IT talent early
To impact your company positively, it's vital to spot talented people early in their employment. Here's why and how.
As the idea of working for one company for an entire career has virtually disappeared, corporations -- large and small -- face turnover comparable to that of McDonald's. While it reflects today's companies shedding loyalty to employees, the reverse is also true: If an employee's needs aren't met by their current employer, LinkedIn and Indeed make it easier than ever to change jobs, and indeed, employees do it without hesitation.
Still, well-run companies value employees, particularly those likely to make significant contributions to the firm. Identifying and cultivating these potential IT leaders early in their careers fosters talent retention, underpinning this mutually beneficial, long-term arrangement -- accelerated employee skill development and an accompanying boost to overall business performance.
This outcome does not happen in a vacuum. Spotting and nurturing a firm's future leaders with a successful IT development strategy is a structured, observable and repeatable process. Additionally, it prevents untapped or, more specifically, overlooked talent from leaving the organization, particularly to aid a rival.
What makes IT talent "high potential?"
The "20-70-10 rule," an evaluation popularized by former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, is a performance management system that divides employees into three tiers: the top 20% of performers, who do most of the work; the middle 70%, who are adequate but require training; and the bottom 10%, who need weeding out.
Since the top 20% drive the company, build and encourage this group, preferably drawing these high-potential employees from the middle 70%. After all, in-house talent development is a more streamlined, less expensive choice than hiring from outside the company.
How do you spot a high-potential employee? Bryan Wall, senior competency leader for cloud engineering at Experis, said hard skills remain relevant, of course, but soft skills are just as important.
"Ten years ago, someone that was a principal level engineer might be okay if they had no social skills, they had no soft skills, because what you're paying for is their ability to get things done, but they're terrible to work with," he said. "That's not really acceptable anymore."
Lacey Kaelani, co-founder and CEO of career coaching site Metaintro, agreed, adding that many recruiters and job hunters, too, don't emphasize soft skills enough.
"Recruiters are drowning in applications, and they're using AI to filter fast, but they're only looking to be able to check the box," she said. "I think it's up to the manager (doing) the interview to be looking for those soft skills and then, on the flip side, for the job seeker to emphasize (their) soft skills."
Successful companies recognize a high-potential employee is someone with an exponential impact – beyond their immediate sphere of influence, said Abe Weiser, head of search and talent acquisition at recruiting platform Elly.ai.
"(You want) someone who has a deep sense of why they're doing something and how they'll get there," he said.
Methods for early identification
Early identification of high-potential employees is a manual – a human – task. Software doesn't really help. Early identification requires people skills, basic awareness and constant scrutiny of employees.
"I'm going to identify (them as) high-potential people if they are trying to solve a complex problem and don't stop before they have the solution," said Dr. Andrea Derler, head of research at Visier, a developer of workforce intelligence and AI solutions. "I think that really makes them stand out."
Visier manages complex, highly mathematical models using vast amounts of data, requiring unique talent.
"You really need somebody (who won't) stop before the answer or the notion is there," Derler added. "That sounds really high-minded, but again, that separates a normal performer from a high performer."
Feedback on using peer reviews for early identification is mixed.
"That's not something we've thought was necessary, just because it creates a little bit of tension," said Kaelani. "I think maybe for larger companies, peer reviews are more relevant when you have larger departments. But in startups, I think that creates friction between employees."
Weiser has a different view.
"It's extremely important," he said. "Those are the people you're working with. Those are the people that see what you're doing on a day-to-day basis."
Tools and frameworks
Again, identifying high-potential employees is primarily a people skill. However, talent assessment matrices, scoring models and nine box grids are among the useful tools in the process of spotting great potential, Weiser said.
"The idea is that you structure them in a way to be helpful and useful. You should have a framework of what you're looking for. You should be asking consistent questions," he said. "It's really having guided and intentional interview processes versus interview processes on the fly."
Wall's firm combines different evaluations, including non-work-related tests and challenges.
"Sometimes I'll give coding challenges myself, where I'll open up a collaboration board. There's plenty of tools to do this," he said. "Sometimes we do use AI tools for programming challenges, especially if it's for a particularly tough or unique skill set."
Linking identification to development
After identifying these high-potential individuals, what are some ways to develop them as leaders? Though everyone interviewed had differing views, all agreed on the value of mentorships.
"Nobody – nobody – gets anywhere without having a proper mentor," said Kaelani. "It doesn't even have to be a formalized mentorship, but someone that you have coffee with, or even a meeting every once in a while. Or, quite frankly, your manager could be your mentor."
Wall said he typically asks lead or senior candidates a specific question.
"I say, 'How do you grow your junior engineers?'" said Wall. "As far as myself, it's holding myself accountable and making sure that we do regular one-on-ones – that I deliver the thing that I say I will deliver – being available as often as possible."
Dovetailing with mentorship is what Derler called "exposure," where an employee is placed with others in the organization to learn from them. The person could be a peer, a manager or even an informal working group. Exposure provides expertly guided discussions that help employees almost coach each other in the group setting, said Derler.
Retention and engagement
Early recognition of talented, high-potential employees builds loyalty and prevents talent loss. Now that you've recognized the talent, how do you nurture it? After all, some talented employees inevitably leave any business – even when they have a good thing – for various reasons.
Forward-thinking employers have moved beyond traditional benefits – such as paid time off, bonuses and stock options – and offer a wide range of perks. Kaelani said she has seen employers provide benefits for spouses and even for pets, along with meaningful maternity and paternity leave. Beyond that, Kaelani added that high-potential employees want to be pushed.
"You throw them hard projects, and you give them autonomy," she said. "Gradually, you continue to challenge them, giving them the tools that they need to be able to grow. That's when you'll see higher employee retention, because ultimately, you know, talented individuals just want to be challenged."
Executive takeaway
Ultimately, responsibility lies with the C-suite, particularly in relation to IT talent. CIOs, while tasked with managing those blinking black boxes, must also navigate their company's human elements sagely, said Weiser.
"CIOs can secure future IT leadership by investing in early recognition of talent," he said. "The earlier you recognize talent, the more secure (and) better off you make the company."
Andy Patrizio is a technology journalist with almost 30 years' experience covering Silicon Valley who has worked for a variety of publications on staff or as a freelancer, including Network World, InfoWorld, Business Insider, Ars Technica and InformationWeek.
