High-Potential Programs Have Rewards, Risks

Senior Managers Fretting About Leaders: The need to groom future leaders uppermost in the minds of CEOs. A study by RHR International and the Institute of Executive Development has found that about 80 percent of companies have programs in place to identify and nurture high-potential employees, with about one-third of those programs being in existence less than two years. Senior management at many companies is green-lighting these training initiatives to find people with the potential to in turn nurture others. Nearly half (46 percent) expect to allocate more money toward developing high-potential workers during the next three years. However, these programs could leave global companies unprepared. Half of the respondents “have not assessed if skills and competencies are different in various parts of the world,” and 44 percent haven’t thought about tailoring development activities to accommodate a diverse pool of managers.