High Potential Programs and Employee Outcomes: The Roles of Organizational Trust and Employee Attributions

Organizations implement high potential (HiPo) programs to identify, develop and retain their most talented employees (also known as high potential employees). However, much is still unknown regarding how these programs affect employees, and the link through which employee participation in HiPo programs affects employee outcomes remains a black box. This research aims to open this black box and examines the underlying mechanism through which HiPo program participation impacts employee outcomes. Drawing on social exchange, psychological contract and attribution theories, I conduct two studies to examine the impacts of HiPo program participation on various employee outcomes. In the first study, I hypothesize that employees who are included in HiPo programs (i.e., HiPo employees) will have higher affective commitment, lower turnover intent, and higher levels of organizational trust. Moreover, I hypothesize that organizational trust will mediate the relationships between HiPo program participation and employee outcomes (i.e., affective commitment and turnover intent). A cross sectional survey was used to collect data from one division of a large multinational company (n= 65). The results provided support for all hypotheses. The second study aims to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1. In this study, I examine the process through which HiPo program participation impacts employee outcomes by incorporating other important variables. I test four mediated models to understand whether HiPo attributions (commitment-focused and control-focused) mediate the relationships between HiPo program participation and employee outcomes (i.e., affective commitment, job satisfaction, turnover intent, and OCBs), and whether organizational trust moderates the relationships between HiPo program participation and HiPo attributions. Using a cross sectional survey design, a sample of 242 employees provided support for the four mediated relationships for commitment-focused HiPo attributions, but not for control-focused HiPo attributions. The results showed significant interaction effects of HiPo program participation and organizational trust on commitment-focused attributions. However, no support was found for the interaction effects of HiPo program participation and organizational trust on control-focused HiPo attributions. Additionally, the results provided support for several mediated moderated models. This research highlights a key role of organizational trust in understanding the impact of HiPo program participation on employee outcomes.