When people start businesses, the aim is not to hire employees who will stay stagnant in the role in which they started. The dream is not that they will have to keep hiring new talent to fill mid- and top-level management roles. The goal is to develop employees into long-lasting and valuable assets of the company - and for current talent to grow into its future leaders.
But it can be tough to figure out who has serious growth potential - and, frankly, you do not want to invest in someone who will not be able to go the distance.
The gym membership analogy
Think of it like this: if you had a gym membership to give away, would you give it to someone who has no interest in going, or someone who already enjoys fitness? Would you give it to someone who does not think they need to exercise, or someone who sees the value and is committed to putting in the hours? Because your money, time, and effort are not endless, it makes sense to invest in people who are most likely to offer the highest return.
The investment question
To spot who has the highest potential for growth, you need to identify an employee's willingness and ability to grow. There are four main attributes that have the markings of high growth potential - and every employee falls on the scale for each.
These attributes are not about current performance. They are about the capacity and willingness to change, learn, and grow. A high performer in their current role may score low on growth potential. A mid-performer may score high. The data often surprises.
Attribute 1: Self-alignment
Employees are prone to blind spots - what they see as a strength but others see as a weakness - and hidden strengths - what they see as a weakness but others see as a strength. If they have too many of either, they will overuse what they are not good at and under-use what they are good at.
If there is a large difference between how an employee sees themselves and how others see them, there is low potential for growth. Self-alignment is the foundation of development - you cannot develop what you cannot accurately see.
Attribute 2: Self-evaluation
Self-evaluation is the act of being able to critically analyse how you are versus how you could be. This is crucial in being able to grow. Traditional self-evaluation methods, however, can mean people over-rate themselves based on optimism bias.
Ensure you are taking that into account when assessing a person's ability to self-evaluate. The goal is not to find people who are harsh on themselves - it is to find people who are accurate about themselves.
Attribute 3: Feedback receptiveness
People who are open to change and personal growth actively seek feedback from others. They understand that what they know about themselves can only be enhanced by different information they get from other people they work with.
Candidates with high growth potential do not shy away from tough feedback. They see it as data, not as a threat. This is one of the most reliable indicators of future development success.
Attribute 4: Energetic and consistent learning
These are two major characteristics that are correlated with a willingness and ability to change and grow. Someone who is constantly learning will have a vast general knowledge and will be good at keeping up with trends.
Someone with an energetic approach will stick to tasks and consistently achieve goals and meet targets. Together, these two characteristics predict whether a person will actually follow through on development commitments - or whether development will remain theoretical.
Putting it together: the growth potential map
Even when you know what you are looking for, it is not always easy to spot on your own. A structured assessment tool uses analytics, feedback reports, and self-evaluation techniques to score employees in each of these attributes, helping to get a big-picture view of who could be the next leader in a company.
The end result is a growth potential map that shows an employee's baseline growth potential by scoring them on the four attributes above, from low to very high. This gives HR and business leaders the evidence base to make targeted, high-return development investment decisions.