The core talent management program in larger companies focuses on accelerating high potentials. What do we mean by potential? We accumulate experiences that often cause us to see and do things differently. And, there are some things that we repeat habitually. Habits help us take care of routine matters and allow us to open up our brains to process priorities for change or take on more demanding tasks. As we process these things, we are continually growing.

We tend to assume that people are growing at a different rate and on a different curve. There is probably a point where rate of growth levels off. So when we assess potential for growth, we are asking which employees are not leveled off. Employee growth potential is focused on developing people into leadership roles, but the principles can be applied for different types of roles in tomorrow’s organizations whose structure and content we cannot predict today.

In most of the developed world, there are more executives leaving the workforce than entering it. And, the nature of work is changing. Work at all levels requires much more adaptation and cognitive skills than in previous generations. In assessing potential many organizations are looking at the issues that could block growth or derail someone from moving ahead.
There is a difference between becoming derailed and not performing in a role.

Someone may not be performing due to lack of knowledge or poor supervision. But derailment is a more fundamental issue and there may be obvious signs of repeated stress or inability to function in core parts of the role over time. Learning agility is a positive indicator of potential. People with this characteristic have a desire to learn, an innate curiosity about the world around them. They may be able to react quickly to changing demands.