Gartner for HR

Regional HIPO
Competency
Prioritization
Guide

© 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CM_I_881451 Regional HIPO Competency Prioritization Guide 1
What it does
Solicit critical leadership competency needs based on regional business strategy and
customer voice. Using this input, prioritize competencies in your global framework to
identify and develop high-potential employees (HIPOs) in the region.

Instructions:
For each of your major HIPO roles:
1. U
 se the Customer Interview Questions on page 2 as a
guide to get inputs on how customers’ needs and priorities
will change in the next 3-5 years, and use that information
to identify competency needs. If a specific HIPO pool is
not customer-facing, interview their internal clients (e.g.,
interview R&D functions for IT HIPO roles).
2. U
 se the Senior Stakeholder Interview Questions on page
4 as a guide to get inputs from leaders and other senior
stakeholders on expected attributes of HIPO talent.
3. U
 se information collected from steps 1 and 2 to identify
competency needs for future success.

Customer interview questions

Instructions:
1. C
 ustomize and use the customer interview questions
below to understand how their needs and priorities will
change in the next 3-5 years, and surface HIPO talent
attributes that will help support these needs.
2. T
 ranslate these into employee competencies that can
best meet and exceed these expectations. Consult your
senior leaders on the questions, and try to narrow down
to the 3-4 most important ones.

Questions:
1. W
 hat are your organization’s key priorities in the 4. Which of the following are most important to your
next 18 months that you will be looking to [input business relationship with [input your company name]:
your company name] to support you on? (Select 3)
2. O
 n what aspects of your organization’s business Anticipating change
strategy for the next 3-5 years do you foresee Timely delivery of results
[input your company name] can support you?
Helping us make better decisions with confidence
3. W
 hich of these attributes do you most want to
see from [input name of the relevant HIPO role] Understanding our business context
across the next 12 months? (Rank the top 3) Understanding and predicting the trending issues
Knowledgeable in my industry

Upbeat and confident Other (please specify:)

Ethical and honest

Global mindset
5. Which of these propositions characterizes the experience
Detail-oriented you desire most from working with [input name of the
Good communicator relevant HIPO role]? (Select 1)
Team player Effortless
Responsive Error-free
Disciplined and punctual Inspiring
Polite Forward-looking
Passionate Responsive
Creative Fast execution
Other (please specify:) (Define your own proposition for this HIPO role)

© 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CM_I_881451 Regional HIPO Competency Prioritization Guide 1
Senior leader interview questions
Instructions:
1. Identify senior stakeholders with whom you must consult
to validate customer input. Use the following questions as
the identification criteria:
• Besides customers, what other groups does the [input
name of the relevant HIPO role] need to work and
partner with?
• What talent groups, besides HIPO talent, are impacted
by changes in future competency criteria?
• Who are the stakeholders that must approve of and
buy in to the updated competency criteria?
Questions:
1. What are your team’s key priorities in the next 18 months
that you will be looking to [input your company name]
to support you on?
2. What aspects of your team’s business strategy for
the next 3 years do you foresee [input your company
name] can support you on?
3. What behaviors will help us hit our growth and
profitability goals in the next 3-5 years?
4. What behaviors will help us maintain or strengthen our
competitive advantage in this region?
Translate responses into future regional
competency requirements
Instructions:
1. T
 ranslate customer responses into future-focused
competency needs. For example, the following competency
criteria could be derived from customer inputs:
• Customer inputs: “We would like to work with someone
from your team who is knowledgeable and pays a
lot of attention to details. She should also be able to
always deliver results on time and provide an effortless
experience to us”
• Derived competency criteria: “Detail-oriented, results-
driven, empathy for customers.”
© 2020 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CM_I_881451
2. F
 or each of your major HIPO roles, select or customize
the prepopulated questions when interviewing selected
regional stakeholders. Strive to understand their
expectations from HIPO talent in your company across
the next 3-5 years to sustain business success. Translate
these into employee competency expectations that can
best meet and exceed these expectations (Recommended
target: 5-10 senior stakeholders). Try to narrow down to
3-4 most important questions.
5. Which of the following are most important to sustain
our business success during the next 3 years: (Select 3)
□ Anticipating change
□ Timely delivery of results
□ Helping us make better decisions with confidence
□ Understanding our business context
□ Understanding and predicting the trending issues
in my industry
□ Other (please specify:)
2. U
 sing similar principles, translate senior stakeholder
responses into future-focused competency needs.
3. C
 ombine the results from both customer and senior
stakeholder interviews, and prioritize the common
competencies in the selection of possible HIPOs in
the region.
Regional HIPO Competency Prioritization Guide 2