How to Identify and Retain High-Potential Employees (And Why It’s Worth It)

If you’ve ever watched a standout employee quietly update their LinkedIn profile, you know that sinking feeling. High-potential employees are those who go above and beyond, elevate those around them, and seem destined to lead. They’re also among the most likely to leave if they don’t feel challenged, valued, or genuinely connected to your organization.

Retaining high-potential employees isn’t just a nice-to-have talent strategy. It’s one of the highest-ROI investments you can make for your company’s future. In this article, we’ll break down what makes someone a true HiPo, why keeping them matters more than ever, and five practical things you can do to hold onto your best people—including some team building programs that are perfectly designed for the job.

What are high-potential employees?

High-potential employees (or HiPos) are more than just strong performers. Research suggests they represent the top 3–5% of a company’s workforce: individuals who consistently outperform their peers, demonstrate real leadership readiness, and embody the organization’s values from the inside out.

Still, not every high performer is a high-potential employee. Studies suggest that only about 30% of high performers are actually HiPos. The difference is meaningful. High performers excel at their current responsibilities. High-potential staff exhibit a future-ready mindset—they’re adaptable, proactive, self-motivated, and ready to grow into roles that don’t yet exist.

Some of the clearest signs of a HiPo include:

• Volunteering for stretch projects and additional responsibilities
• Mentoring or influencing colleagues without formal authority
• Demonstrating strategic thinking that goes beyond their current job description
• Thriving under pressure and in ambiguous situations
• Showing up consistently with emotional intelligence and clarity of purpose

Why is retaining high-potential employees so critical?

Let me put some numbers to this, because the data is genuinely striking.

According to SHL research, HiPo employees are 91% more valuable to organizations than non-HiPos and put in 21% more effort daily than their peers. On top of that, high-potential staff boost their entire team’s productivity by as much as 15%, acting as what researchers call “force multipliers.” Their impact isn’t limited to their own output; it ripples across the whole team.

And losing one of these valuable employees? That’s extremely costly. Replacing an employee can run anywhere from 30% to 400% of their annual salary, depending on seniority. With voluntary turnover costing companies an estimated $2.9 trillion globally each year, and 89% of HR leaders now ranking retention as their top priority, this is a challenge no organization can afford to ignore.

What’s driving HiPos out the door in the first place? According to Gallup’s 2024 data, poor engagement and workplace culture account for 37% of voluntary departures—well ahead of pay and benefits. That means the answer isn’t always a bigger paycheck. It’s about creating an environment where high-potential talent genuinely wants to stay.

How do you identify your high-potential employees?

Before you can focus on retention strategies for high-potential employees, you need to know who they are. This sounds obvious, but a Korn Ferry survey found that 66% of organizations may be missing out on identifying HiPos simply because they aren’t looking deep enough.

Here are a few proven approaches:

1. Look beyond performance reviews. High performance and high potential aren’t the same thing. Use psychometric assessments or 360-degree feedback to evaluate leadership readiness, adaptability, and strategic thinking—not just output.
2. Watch how they handle new challenges. Do they step up when given a stretch assignment, or do they play it safe? HiPos tend to seek out difficulty and treat obstacles as opportunities.
3. Pay attention to influence. According to research firm Zenger Folkman, two traits all HiPos share are the ability to motivate others and strategic vision. Both are about influence and impact, not just individual results.
4. Involve your managers—with structure. Managers often know who the real stars are, but make sure structured criteria are in place alongside gut instinct to minimize bias.

5 ways to retain your high-potential employees

Now let’s get into what you can actually do. Here are five strategies that make a real difference when it comes to how to retain high potential employees.

1. Give them high-visibility assignments

High-potential employees don’t want to do the same job every day. One of the most effective retention strategies for high-potential employees is to assign them meaningful, high-stakes work that lets them prove themselves and grow in ways that matter.

The more visible they are across your organization, the more they can see a future there. If they’re consistently challenged and recognized, they’ll be far less tempted to look elsewhere. This is also a natural starting point for succession planning before you actually need it.

2. Invest seriously in HiPo development

Employee potential doesn’t grow without support. High-potential employees development is one of the highest-ROI investments a leader can make—and without it, your HiPos will start to wonder if anyone has noticed their potential at all.

Meaningful development can take several forms:

• Formal mentoring or executive coaching programs
• Access to leadership development workshops and professional training
• Individualized career development plans that align with your organization’s direction
• Real opportunities to lead teams or projects before they hold an official leadership title

The message you’re sending matters as much as the program itself. If a HiPo sees a clear growth path at your company, they’ll stay. If they don’t, they’ll find one somewhere else.

3. Build a culture where they feel like they belong

People don’t leave companies—they leave managers and cultures. With US employee engagement falling to just 31% at the end of 2024 (its lowest point in a decade, according to Gallup), there’s clearly room for improvement.

High-potential talent needs to feel recognized, trusted, and genuinely included in the life of your organization. That means regular honest check-ins, meaningful feedback, and a workplace culture that celebrates contributions—not just hitting targets. Our guide on teamwork in the workplace explores how relationships and communication form the foundation of everything, and it’s a great read for any manager looking to strengthen their team culture.

Also worth noting: A 2026 report says that 70% of employees cite culture as the top reason for staying at a job. For HiPos, who have plenty of options, culture is often the deciding factor.

4. Build their internal network

HiPos thrive when surrounded by people who challenge and uplift them. Building internal networks—through mentoring programs, cross-functional projects, and collaborative team experiences—gives them the connections they need to grow and stay invested.

The more meaningful relationships a HiPo has at your company, the more reasons they have to stay. Research-backed employee engagement strategies consistently show that connection and belonging are among the most powerful drivers of retention—and that intentional team experiences are among the best ways to create both.

5. Use team building to keep HiPo engagement high

Here’s where things get especially interesting. Team building isn’t just a fun afternoon outside the office—it’s a serious tool for engagement and retention, especially for your high-potential employees.

The right experiences help HiPos connect with their teammates, sharpen their skills, and feel like they’re part of something worth staying for. And when people feel that sense of belonging, they stay. Gallup data shows that high-engagement workplaces see a 24% reduction in turnover—that’s a number worth building a strategy around. Check out TeamBonding’s full breakdown of why team building works for more insight into how intentional shared experiences translate into real business outcomes.

TeamBonding programs that support HiPo retention

Not all team building is created equal. For high-potential employees, you want experiences that are challenging, meaningful, and directly tied to growth. Here are five programs worth exploring:

Breaking Barriers 

This is one of the most powerful programs we offer for HiPos. In the board-breaking experience, participants identify a personal or professional barrier—such as fear of failure, perfectionism or fear of rejection—and physically break through it as a metaphor for their commitment to change. It’s facilitated, purposeful, and deeply motivating. The connections formed during this experience unite participants into a resilient, driven team ready to tackle bigger challenges together.

Effective Communication 

High-potential employees are leaders in the making, and great leaders are great communicators. This training workshop sharpens listening, empathy, and clarity across the board. Participants leave with practical tools to handle feedback more effectively, share ideas with confidence, and strengthen cross-departmental connections. For HiPo development, this kind of professional development training pays dividends long after the event itself.

iBuild

This clever collaborative challenge tasks teams with replicating a model structure—but the builder never gets to see the original. The only path to success is clear, strategic communication between teammates. iBuild is a fantastic reminder that every team member plays a vital role, and that the quality of your communication determines the quality of your results. It’s hands-on, fun, and surprisingly profound when the debrief hits.

Discover Your Strengths 

One of the core drivers of HiPo engagement is understanding where their unique gifts lie—and feeling that their employer sees those gifts, too. This StrengthsFinder training helps individuals and teams identify their natural talents, building self-awareness and mutual appreciation throughout the group. For high-potential employees’ development, this kind of clarity is invaluable: it helps managers assign the right opportunities to the right people, and it helps HiPos feel genuinely seen and understood.

Do Good Bus 

Meaning matters deeply to high-potential employees. They want to work for organizations that stand for something bigger than the bottom line. The Do Good Bus is a volunteer-based team experience that takes your team into the community to create a real, tangible impact. It builds morale, strengthens relationships, and sends a clear signal that your company values service, empathy, and collaboration—which is exactly the kind of culture that makes valuable employees want to stay.

Retaining high-potential employees is a long game

The organizations that keep their best people aren’t doing it by accident. Retaining high-potential employees takes intentional strategy, consistent investment, and a culture that people genuinely want to be part of.

Give your HiPos meaningful work. Invest in their development. Create a workplace culture built on trust and belonging. And don’t underestimate the power of shared experiences that bring people together in ways that everyday work simply can’t.

Ready to take the next step? Explore TeamBonding’s full range of team building activities and find the right experience to help you engage, develop, and hold onto your most valuable employees—before they decide to look elsewhere.