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THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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igh-potential employees have become a hot commodity. Theyre getting the job done today and theyre in line to fill key leadership positions tomorrow as the exodus of the baby boomers from the workplace begins. With the war for talent most certainly here to stay, competition for these future stars is heating up. But how can employers ensure they keep these valued workers on board, engaged and ready to take over, when the most desired positions arent open yet? The answer comes not in trying to find the hottest best practices to engage employees but in rekindling three best principles that have stood the test of time and apply in virtually every company and every industry. These best principles were discovered decades ago, but have yet to undergo the dramatic repackaging and rebranding that so many of the soundest, and simplest, HR principles have undergone.
The authors also describe several job characteristics that foster the emergence of these three psychological states: skill variety using a number of different talents in a number of different activities; task identity completing a whole task from beginning to end with a visible outcome versus only participating on a piece of the work or project; task significance tasks that have a significant and identifiable impact on the lives or work of other people or external environment; autonomy a sense of control and discretion over how an employee executes her work; and feedback loops consistent flow of information to allow an employee to adjust, amend and learn. It is easy to find examples of how major companies have leveraged these principles to engage the best employees: auto manufacturers using task identity by having high-potential employees supervise the assembly of whole cars versus just car parts; major retailers using task significance by mandating new managers spend a specific amount of time in-store, relating to customers and connecting with the brand; construction and mining companies using skill variety by taking promising young engineers and exposing them to different functional units in the organization; and consulting companies using autonomy by allowing workers to work virtually and structure their own hours. The lesson here is to go back to what high-potentials need from their jobs and find creative ways to
give them these experiences. Although those creative ways can be tough to identify, and an even tougher sell to management, the blueprint for what must underlie those experiences is fairly clear.
participation in high-potential development programs; specific and actionable developmental plans and ongoing coaching support; and mentoring and exposure to company executives. Often, even without a specifically identified succession plan or available position, a high-potential will stay with a company because it is essentially providing what she desires most meaningfulness and development. The key to leveraging the reciprocity principle is to make genuine efforts that involve consistent messaging from senior executives and policy makers. Advantageously, such efforts also speak well to the recent demographic changes the workplace has seen. Generational research abounds that speaks to the entitlement mentality and increased importance Generations X and Y place on partnering with the organizations they work for. High-potential employees are thinking more and more about what they can get from an organization versus what they can provide. Efforts are thus well spent on designing programs that offer the kinds of support and opportunities the newer generations demand. Though deceptively simple and straightforward, these three principles are really at the heart of many of the best strategies used to retain and engage high-potentials. Clearly, these principles suggest a lesson employers consistently relearn: The old is new again and has never really gone away. Henryk Krajewski is vice-president and national practice leader, consulting services, at Right Management in Toronto. He can be reached at (888) 926-1324 ext. 249 or henryk.krajewski@right.com.
Copyright Canadian HR Reporter, March 10, 2008, by permission of Carswell, Toronto, Ontario, 1-800-387-5164. Web site: www.hrreporter.com