What Is High Potential Program?

What's happening here?

These aren’t your typical high-performance initiatives. HiPo programs look beyond current excellence—they hunt for people hungry for authority, eager to stretch their influence, and ready to climb the career ladder. To separate true high potentials from high performers who’re perfectly happy right where they are, companies use tools like 360-degree feedback, performance scores, and career aspiration surveys. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, organizations that nail down clear HiPo criteria cut unwanted turnover by 14% and beef up their leadership bench. Gartner’s research backs this up too, showing companies with solid HiPo programs boast 22% stronger leadership pipelines than those flying blind.

How do you actually set one up?

1. First, log into your HRIS and head to Talent → Talent Pools → Create New Pool.
2. Name this pool “HiPo 2027” and set visibility to “Leadership Team” so senior leaders can actually see it.
3. Next, plug in these filters under Assessment Criteria:
   • Leadership-360 completion after January 1, 2025
   • Performance rating of at least 4.3/5 in the last two review cycles
   • “Leadership Aspiration” flag set to TRUE
   • “Risk of Flight” score no higher than 2.0 (using the Flight-Risk Model v3.2)
4. Finally, run the HiPo Identification Algorithm and export the list to CSV for leadership review and approval within five business days.

What if it doesn’t catch enough people?

• When fewer than 3% of employees get flagged, bump the performance threshold up a bit (think 4.4 or 4.5) to tighten the net.
• Then, manually review false positives—people tagged as HiPo who’ve actually turned down promotions—and flip their “Leadership Aspiration” flag in the HRIS.
• If the Flight-Risk Model v3.2 isn’t available in your area, try the TalentGuard Predictive Index instead, using the same thresholds to keep things consistent.

How do you keep it running smoothly?

Regular tweaks and fairness checks keep the program on track and cut down on bias, says the Society for Human Resource Management. McKinsey’s research even shows companies that audit for bias every quarter hang onto diverse high potentials 3.5 times longer than those that don’t.