How to Identify High-Potential Employees As a Leader

Every organization has a mix of different types of employees. Some overdeliver, some stay in their lane, and some

The real question you should ask is: how do you know which type of employee you’re working with? And perhaps more importantly, how do you identify high-potential employees before they slip through the cracks and shine for another business?

This article will answer these questions and more, breaking down the 4 types of employees, how to identify high-potential employees, and a proven employee performance matrix to help you develop your team.

Let’s kick things off with the million-dollar question.

What Are the 4 Types of Employees?

Intuition is crucial at the top, but don’t rely solely on your gut when identifying talent.

Instead, use an employee performance matrix to separate team members by work ethic and commitment. These characteristics are fundamental to how people operate, and an employee performance matrix helps you understand who works hard and who’s more capable.

So, without further ado, here’s how the 4 types of employees show up in your organization, characterized using the employee performance . And yes, we’ve also included tips to deal with them and get the most out of them.

1. Dedicated Achievers = High Work Ethic, High Commitment

The stuff dreams are made of for leaders. We’re talking about those highly committed folks with incredible work ethics. Basically, they’re your A-Team. Your Mr. T, if you .  

The key to maximizing dedicated achievers is to nurture and challenge them, and to make sure they’re suitably stretched and developed. Never take them for granted, either, and make sure they feel recognized. Otherwise, they could leave you and elevate another company instead.

2. Contributors = High Work Ethic, Low Commitment

The contributors show up on time, do their bit, but don’t venture outside of their comfort zones. A common mistake leaders make is confusing good hustle for growth when it comes to contributors, but you shouldn’t praise them simply for their output.

Why? Because someone who ticks all the boxes but doesn’t challenge themselves is habitual, not high potential.

Contributors aren’t always lost causes, however, but at the very least, they need vision, extra coaching, and to be stretched to reach their full potential.

3. Visionaries = Low Work Ethic, High Commitment

We all know a visionary or two. They’re super committed to the cause but don’t have much follow-through. They can, of course, be frustrating for leaders, but it’s an all-too-common mistake to dismiss them early.

Instead, show a bit of leadership humility and support your visionaries to do more. You’ll soon see their fire sparked and their talents thrive.

4. Spectators = Low Work Ethic, Low Commitment

Nobody wants a spectator or passenger on their team. They have no work ethic to speak of, and their commitment is even lower. It’s important to identify spectators as soon as possible, and either accept them as they are, change them (or their role), or show them the door.

More often than not, keeping them around sends the wrong message to your higher performers and can disrupt your organization. However, a conversation could help you identify what’s going wrong, so don’t hit the big red ejector seat button before having a heart-to-heart.

In Episode 20 of the Stop Managing, Start Leading podcast, we explore the 4 types of employees in expansive detail. We also show you how to apply an employee performance matrix to real-world team dynamics, from overlooked visionaries to high-potential contributors hiding in plain sight.

Why Low Performance Doesn’t Always Mean Low Potential

One of the most common leadership mistakes is assuming low output means low ability. However, misalignment, unclear expectations, and even the wrong role can make people look lazier or shoddier than they are.

Instead of discipline being your first port of call for perceived underachievers, try asking yourself a few questions:

• Have I coached this person with clarity?
• Do they understand how their role connects to the wider purpose of the business?
• Am I reacting based on personality, or have I considered a performance matrix?

These help you make great strides as a leader, adding structured, proven models to your natural instincts and helping you map work ethic against commitment to understand the types of employees you’re leading.

Where Are You on Your Employee Performance Matrix?

It’s all well and good identifying underperforming employees in your business, but how are you faring against the same kinds of employee eval examples?

We regularly find that an underperforming manager or business leader is the real issue, so, before showing underperforming employees the door, ask yourself if you ever:

• Avoid feedback.
• React emotionally.
• Fail to inspire commitment.

If any of these ring (tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth here), it might be time to evaluate your leadership style and use your own employee performance matrix as a self-coaching tool, because underperforming managers often need the same clarity and feedback they expect from others.

Your Leadership Journal and the Power of Reflecting

If you’re serious about building a culture of high-potential employees, reflection isn’t just a luxury. It’s a vital mechanism for your leadership and business. So, before you make your next staffing decision, take ten minutes with your leadership journal and see if it doesn’t help you shift from reaction to insight.

Struggling to get started? Try these three leadership journaling prompts to get the creative juices flowing:

1. Am I treating anybody like an underperformer without evidence?
2. Which quadrant does each team member sit in and why?
3. What does this tell me about my leadership habits?

If you're looking for something more in-depth, we’ve created a FREE 31-day guided journaling prompt download. These prompts are designed to kickstart your EQ journey through daily reflection, self-mentoring, and practical emotional insight. Download your FREE 31-day guided leadership development journaling prompts here.

Final Thoughts: Performance Is a Pattern, Not a Personality

The success of your team depends on your ability to spot patterns, not just personalities. This is why the employee performance matrix is so helpful, because it gives you a simple way to identify employee underperformance and fix it.

And whether you use an employee evaluation matrix or a performance-based model like the quadrant, the goal is the same: to separate assumptions from reality and lead with greater clarity.

Find Out More

In Episode 20 of the Stop Managing, Start Leading podcast, we unpack the differences between work ethic and commitment and show you how to apply the employee performance quadrant to your business.

Antonio also demonstrates how to identify high-potential employees without relying on instinct alone and the benefits of looking inward to solve problems in your organization.

And if you’re in the market for more leadership tools to help you and your organization grow, the My Daily Leadership: A Powerful Roadmap For Success book includes a range of leadership journaling prompts, models, and coaching frameworks to help you turn evaluation into elevation.