Some HR tools stand the test of time. The 9 Box matrix is one of them. Born in the 70s at McKinsey to evaluate General Electric's business units, it has since migrated to HR departments — and for good reason: it offers at a glance what hours of interviews sometimes struggle to formalize. A cross-referenced view of the current performance and future potential of each employee.
Yet, the 9 Box is often misused. Filled in a hurry before a People Review, without shared criteria among managers, and without follow-up on identified profiles. The result: a powerful tool that becomes a superficial exercise.
This guide aims to change that. You will find out how to build your matrix, interpret the 9 profiles that emerge, define associated action plans — and download a ready-to-use Excel template for your next talent review meeting.
9 Boxes Grid: Overview
Definition and Interpretation of the Grid
What is the 9 Box Matrix?
The 9 Box matrix is a talent evaluation grid structured around two axes:
- The vertical axis measures the current performance of the employee — what they concretely deliver in their role today.
- The horizontal axis measures their future potential — their ability to grow, take on more responsibility, and adapt to new contexts.
The intersection of these two dimensions creates 9 boxes, each corresponding to a distinct profile. From "low performance / low potential" in the bottom left, to "high performance / high potential" in the top right — the famous top right corner that all HRDs seek to fill.
What makes the tool relevant is precisely this duality. An employee might excel in their current role without having the potential to take on a more demanding one tomorrow. Conversely, a high-potential individual might be going through a period of mediocre performance — due to context, managerial environment, or a poorly defined mission. The 9 Box forces us to distinguish these two realities rather than conflating them into a single annual rating.
The two axes in detail
What the 9 Box is not
As useful as it is, the matrix has its blind spots — and ignoring them risks biased decisions.
It doesn't replace an in-depth individual interview. It says nothing about the context in which performance was achieved. And most importantly, it's only as objective as the managers who complete it — which, without prior framing and collective calibration, can perpetuate the very biases we aim to avoid.
That's why the 9 Box works better as a conversation tool during a People Review than as an individual verdict set in stone.
When to use the 9 Box?
One tool, three key moments
The 9 Box is not an everyday tool. It's not meant to run continuously like an HR dashboard. Its value lies precisely in its punctual and collective nature : it crystallizes a talent conversation at a specific moment, with the right people at the table.
Three contexts are particularly well-suited for it.
1. The People Review
This is the 9 Box's natural home. The People Review brings together HR, managers, and sometimes leadership to review the organization's human capital — identifying who is developing, who is stagnating, who is at risk of leaving, and who is ready to take on more responsibility.
The matrix serves as a common language. Without it, each manager arrives with their own framework for understanding, their own implicit criteria, their own threshold for what "good potential" means. With it, the conversation becomes structured, comparisons become possible, and decisions gain consistency.
It's also where biases are revealed — and corrected. A manager who consistently places their teams at the top of the grid, or conversely, undervalues their more discreet employees, quickly stands out in the collective comparison.
2. Building a succession plan
Identifying who could fill a key position tomorrow requires distinguishing between high-performing employees today and those who have the capacity to take on more responsibility tomorrow. This is exactly what the 9 Box enables.
In this context, the "high performance / high potential" box becomes the natural talent pool for future successors. But the intermediate boxes also have their value: a "solid performance / moderate potential" profile can be a reliable successor for a similar-level role, without requiring an accelerated development plan.
3. Identifying and developing high potentials
Outside of formal People Review cycles, the 9 Box can serve as a compass for L&D and talent management teams: which profiles deserve an accelerated development path? Who is ready for a cross-functional assignment, a mentoring program, an ambitious internal mobility opportunity?
This is where the "high potential" column takes on its full meaning, regardless of current performance. An employee with high potential / solid performance who is not yet challenged to their full extent is often a flight risk — not due to disengagement, but due to a lack of visible prospects.
What the 9 Box should not be
An annual exercise disconnected from any operational follow-up. The most common flaw is not in the tool itself — it's in what happens afterward. Grids filled out in a committee, stored in a drive, and forgotten until the next cycle.
The 9 Box is only valuable if it leads to concrete decisions: a career discussion initiated, an adjusted training plan, a transparent conversation with the employee in question. Without that, it's a beautiful map — without a territory to navigate.
How to build your 9 Box step by step
Four steps, not five
Most guides on the 9 Box propose six, seven, sometimes ten steps. In practice, what makes the exercise fail is not a lack of steps — it's a lack of rigor on the four fundamental ones. Let's go through them in order.
Step 1 — Define the Criteria Before Filling the Grid
This is the step most teams skip. They open the grid, start placing employees, and only realize afterward that each manager had a different definition of "high potential."
Before any input, two questions must be answered in writing and shared:
What does performance mean in your context? Quantitative objectives are a starting point, but rarely sufficient. A salesperson who exceeds their quota by damaging client relationships doesn't perform the same as one who builds a solid pipeline for the long term. Define the criteria, weigh them, and ensure all managers evaluate using the same guidelines.
What does potential mean in your organization? This is the trickiest question. Potential is not future performance — it's the ability to absorb greater complexity, scope, and responsibilities. The most reliable indicators: learning agility, the ability to influence without authority, and how someone behaves in novel situations.
Step 2 — Collect Evaluations in Advance
The 9 Box is not filled out during the session. Managers must come to the committee with a pre-considered position for each of their employees — not an intuition, but a data-driven assessment.
Sources to leverage in advance:
- Annual review results or feedback campaigns
- Skills assessments from the competency framework
- 360° feedback, where available
- Mobility history and assumption of responsibilities
This is where Neobrain adds real value: skills, performance, and aspiration data are already consolidated in the platform — the manager comes to the committee with a factual view, not an impression.
Step 3 — Facilitate the Collective Calibration Session
This is the core of the exercise. Each manager presents their placements, others react, and the group converges on a shared understanding.
A few rules that make a difference:
Appoint a neutral facilitator — ideally an HR professional who has no hierarchical link with the teams being evaluated. Their role: to maintain the framework, re-engage when the discussion gets bogged down, and point out biases when they appear.
Prioritize edge cases — employees clearly in the top right or bottom left are rarely debated for long. It's the middle boxes that generate the most nuanced disagreements. This is where collective calibration produces the most value.
Document decisions and their rationale — not just the final position, but why. An employee placed in the "Enigma" category due to a difficult context doesn't have the same action plan as an employee placed there due to lack of motivation.
Step 4 — Define action plans by profile
A grid without follow-up is just a chart. This is the step we detail in the next section — the 9 profiles and the concrete actions for each.
What to remember here: decisions must be made during the session, not postponed. For each employee, three simple questions:
- What HR action in the next 30 days?
- What 6-month development objective?
- Who is responsible — HR, manager, or both?
Section 4 — The 9 Profiles and Their Action Plans
We start with the three boxes in the right column — high potential, the area that concentrates most strategic decisions — then we move down to the left.
1. Future Leader — High Potential / High Performance
This is the box everyone looks at first. The one discussed in management committees, the one closely monitored — and sometimes too overtly, at the risk of creating unfulfilled expectations.
The Future Leader performs at the highest level today and demonstrates a clear capacity to absorb greater complexity tomorrow. This is the natural successor for key positions, the profile towards which succession plans converge.
- What you absolutely must not do: leave them on autopilot just because 'things are running smoothly'. Top-right profiles are precisely the most likely to leave — not due to disengagement, but due to a lack of concrete prospects.
- Action Plan: formalize a named succession plan, open a transparent conversation about ambitions, offer exposure to the Executive Committee or a strategic project.
2. Emerging Talent — High Potential / Solid Performance
The most underestimated profile on the grid. Performing well in their current role, but not yet at the "Future Leader" level — not due to a lack of ability, but a lack of opportunities to demonstrate their full potential.
The difference between this profile and a Future Leader can sometimes be as little as six months and a well-chosen responsibility.
- What you absolutely must not do: indefinitely position them as "one to watch" without making a decision. Inaction is perceived as a negative signal by high-potential individuals.
- Action Plan: identify the missing factor — exposure, autonomy, skills — and assign expanded responsibility within 3 months, with a clear re-evaluation milestone.
3. Enigma — High Potential / Low Performance
The most complex category to manage. Clearly identified potential, but performance that doesn't align. The question isn't "can this employee do better?" — the answer is yes. The question is "what's holding them back?"
The causes are rarely related to the employee themselves: poorly defined role, unsuitable manager, difficult team environment. Before any action plan, a diagnosis is essential.
- What you absolutely must not do: treat this profile as a classic underperformer. An Enigma who isn't properly supported becomes a departure — and a real loss.
- Action Plan: in-depth interview to identify obstacles, consider internal mobility if the role is the issue, re-evaluation at 3 months.
4. Key Player — Medium Potential / High Performance
High-performing, reliable, recognized in their field. The Key Player is often the silent pillar of a team — the one the manager relies on without always saying so, and whom the organization tends to take for granted.
Their vertical growth potential is limited, but that's not the point. The real risk lies elsewhere: routine setting in, recognition eroding, and a competing recruiter coming along at the right time.
- What you absolutely must not do: promote them as a reward. A Key Player pushed into a role that doesn't match their true potential quickly becomes a problem — for them and for the organization.
- Action plan: explicitly recognize their contribution, offer enriching lateral development — technical lead, mentoring juniors, participating in a cross-functional project.
5. Key Employee — Average Potential / Solid Performance
The most common profile in any organization. Reliable, consistent, autonomous within their scope. They don't draw attention to themselves — which is both their strength and their main visibility risk.
This employee forms the operational backbone of the team. Underestimating them would be a mistake; trying to force their development would be another.
- What you absolutely must not do: ignore them in favor of high-potential profiles. A Key Employee who feels invisible eventually looks elsewhere for the recognition they no longer find here.
- Action plan: maintain a high level of engagement through stimulating objectives, regular feedback, and development opportunities in their preferred area.
6. Profile to Develop — Average Potential / Low Performance
Performance below expectations, moderate potential. This category requires the most discernment — because it encompasses very different situations. A new employee still ramping up, a profile going through a difficult period, or someone structurally misplaced in their role.
Diagnosis takes precedence over the action plan. Acting without understanding the causes is like treating symptoms without curing the disease.
- What to absolutely avoid: letting the situation drag on without a decision. The absence of clear feedback is perceived as a form of abandonment — and helps neither the employee nor the team.
- Action plan: clarification interview, measurable short-term objectives, reinforced managerial support. If no improvement within 3 months, reposition within the framework and adjust the plan.
7. Confirmed Expert — Limited Potential / High Performance
High performance, limited — and fully accepted — potential for growth. The Confirmed Expert is irreplaceable in their field, recognized both internally and externally, and has no particular hierarchical ambitions. It's a choice, not a failure.
As noted in section 1: "limited potential" is not a value judgment. This Expert is a strategic asset that many organizations undervalue because they don't know how to reward them other than through promotion.
- What to absolutely avoid: promoting them to a managerial role to "reward" them. This is the fastest way to lose an excellent expert and gain a mediocre manager.
- Action plan: create a recognized expertise track, value the role of referent or mentor, adapt compensation without going through the hierarchy.
8. Solid Contributor — Limited Potential / Solid Performance
Consistent, predictable, with no particular aspiration for advancement. The Solid Contributor does what is asked of them — well, and on time. They may not be the most visible, but their absence would be felt.
This profile is often found at the end of a career or in a life stage where stability takes precedence over ambition. This is a legitimate reality that the organization must be able to accommodate without condescension.
- What to absolutely avoid: neglecting them or setting development goals they haven't requested. Managerial energy is better invested elsewhere.
- Action Plan: maintain a stable and appreciative work environment, ensure skills remain up-to-date, and value knowledge transfer to more junior profiles.
9. Underperformer — Limited Potential / Low Performance
The most challenging box to manage from a human perspective — and the most costly to ignore. Performance consistently below expectations, low potential for growth. The situation can have multiple causes: outdated skills, a deep mismatch with the role, or long-term disengagement.
What's certain is that inaction solves nothing. Neither for the employee nor for the team, who often silently bears the imbalance.
- What you absolutely must not do: indefinitely postpone the decision due to discomfort. Inaction is itself a decision — and rarely the right one.
- Action Plan: frank discussion about the findings, remediation plan with precise objectives and a defined timeline. If no improvement, explore internal or external reorientation with HR support.
Here's the visual action plan for each profile:
CONCLUSION
The 9 Box matrix is only as valuable as what you do with it. Placing employees in a grid without follow-up isn't talent management — it's HR administration.
What makes the difference is what comes next: decisions made during the session, open conversations with the individuals involved, and an updated grid in the next cycle. Not an annual snapshot. A movie.
To learn more, download our Excel template and structure your next 9 Box session — or discover how Neobrain consolidates performance, potential, and succession plans in a single platform.
