{"id":140755,"date":"2026-03-03T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talogy.com\/?p=140755"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:07:19","slug":"high-professionals-vs-high-potentials-what-leaders-must-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talogy.com\/en-gb\/high-professionals-vs-high-potentials-what-leaders-must-know\/","title":{"rendered":"High professionals vs. high potentials: What leaders must know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine that you are a manager of a star employee. You are excited to have your annual review with them this year because you will be delivering a raving review and a sizable merit increase. As you are wrapping up the conversation with what you consider to be an attractive offer to move into a supervisory role, they surprise you with their answer: \u201cNo, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your employee elaborates that they are happy to stay in their current role for the foreseeable future. They like being an individual contributor and are thriving in their area of expertise with no desire to manage other employees. They like being what you later learn is called a \u2018high professional.\u2019 The problem is you had mistakenly identified them as a high potential employee<\/a> (HiPo) \u2013 someone who has the ability, commitment, and desire to rise and succeed in higher level positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You hear the record scratch sound in your head, and your mind starts to race. Where did you miss the signs or cues? You quickly reflect back over your weekly 1:1s and realise that although you talked about how well things have been going, you never addressed the future and their (lack of) desire for a management role. This leaves you with a role to fill with no one in the wings waiting to take it. Now what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High professionals vs. high potentials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both high potentials and high impact professionals are important to have in an organisation. However, they are different and need to be supported differently in their careers. Just because an employee doesn\u2019t want to move into a management role doesn\u2019t mean that they shouldn\u2019t be developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High professionals (HiPros) prefer to stay high performing in their role long-term, but still value learning, developing, and growing. Retaining people who are great at their jobs is important for business continuity. They hold institutional knowledge, provide consistent results, and can train newcomers. For any number of reasons \u2013 they prefer being able to work autonomously, don\u2019t want to be bogged down with more meetings, aren\u2019t interested in conducting performance reviews just to name a few I\u2019ve heard \u2013 they prefer their individual contributor role and want to maintain that status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to make the distinction between HiPos<\/em> and HiPros<\/em> before investing time and money into developing a high professional for a leadership role in which they have no interest. This can be achieved simply by having a conversation to check for interest and capability. This is a big reason why managers shouldn\u2019t wait until yearly performance reviews to ask employees about their career path<\/a> goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it doesn\u2019t need to be a formal discussion but can be casual in nature if that makes the employee more comfortable. The earlier these conversations happen, the better, and they can include questions as simple as, \u201cWhere do you see yourself in three years?\u201d or \u201cAre there any other roles at the company you are interested in moving into eventually?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to retain high professionals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you ensure that these high impact professionals are happy in their roles and more likely to stay with the company? It starts with acknowledging that employee work expectations are shifting and while the organisation\u2019s needs for filling roles for succession planning<\/a> are important, paying attention to preferences of employees who contribute positively to the company in other capacities is also crucial even if high professionals do not aspire to a leadership role. Perhaps there will be a need to create more than one career path for the same role, acknowledging that while some individuals are looking to move through the leadership ranks, there are individuals who prefer to stay in their role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During check-in conversations that managers are already having, focus on retaining high professionals by keeping a few tips in mind:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n