[People analytics and workforce structure](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#people-analytics) # What is the 9-box grid? Definition The 9-box grid is a talent review tool that places each employee on a three by three matrix of current performance against future potential. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## The 9-box grid plots performance against potential. Current performance runs along one axis, from low to high, and future potential along the other. Each axis has three levels, which makes nine boxes, and every employee in the review is placed in one of them. _Figure: A three by three grid that places each employee by current performance, low to high from left to right, against future potential, low to high from bottom to top. The boxes are the start of a conversation, not a label to keep._ Performance is about results in the current role, usually drawn from recent reviews. Potential is a judgment about how far the person could grow, which is harder to pin down and the part most worth discussing. ## The grid gives managers one shared definition of talent. It forces a shared, explicit judgment in a talent review instead of nine managers each using a private definition of top talent. The boxes are the start of a conversation, not a label to keep. ## A talent review with the grid follows four steps. _Figure: Four steps for a talent review with the 9-box grid. Agree the definitions: what high performance and high potential mean here. Place people: each manager proposes a box for each report. Calibrate: managers challenge each other's placements. Act: agree a development step for each person._ Agree the definitions first, then have each manager propose a box for each report. Calibrate as a group, with managers challenging each other's placements, and finish by agreeing a development step for each person. ## The corners of the grid mean different things. - High performance and high potential: the people most likely to lead next. Give them stretch work and a visible path. - High performance and lower potential: experts who are strong in the role they have. Keep the role rewarding without pushing a promotion they may not want. - High potential and low performance: often someone new, or someone in the wrong role. Check the fit before judging the person. - Low performance and low potential: a performance conversation, with a clear plan and a date. The five boxes in between are where most people sit, and where a specific growth goal does the most good. ## Here is how a review ends for an invented team. Take an invented team of 9 people reviewed on the grid. 2 land in the high-performance, high-potential corner, 5 sit in the middle boxes, and 2 are in the low-performance column. The review ends with 9 development steps, one for each person: a stretch project for the 2, a specific growth goal for each of the 5, and a performance plan or a change of role for the last 2. A review that ends with boxes and no steps has done half the job. ## The grid shows whose exit would hurt most. The people in the high-performance, high-potential corner are the ones other employers want most, and the ones whose exit would be [dysfunctional turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/dysfunctional-turnover). They belong on your [succession planning](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#succession-planning) list and at the front of the queue for [stay interviews](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#stay-interview). ## These are the common mistakes with the 9-box grid. - Treating a box as a permanent label instead of the start of a conversation. - Confusing performance with potential, so every high performer is assumed to be ready for promotion. - Skipping calibration, which leaves each manager with a private definition of top talent. - Telling people their box without a development plan attached. - Placing people once a year and never revisiting the grid. ## These related terms are in the glossary too. - [Dysfunctional turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/dysfunctional-turnover) Dysfunctional turnover is a departure that damages the organization: a high performer, a specialist, or someone hard to replace at any price. - [Succession planning](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#succession-planning) Succession planning is identifying who could step into critical roles, and closing the gaps before the seat is empty. - [Regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition) Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep. - [Flight risk](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/flight-risk) Flight risk is the likelihood that a specific employee leaves in the near future, based on observable signals rather than a manager's hunch. - [Stay interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#stay-interview) A stay interview is a structured conversation with a current employee about what keeps them here and what would make them consider leaving. - [People analytics](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#people-analytics) People analytics is the use of workforce data to answer business questions about hiring, retention, performance and organizational design. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [The 9-box grid explained](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/9-box-grid) About TeamPredict TeamPredict is retention early-warning software that flags resignation risk from public LinkedIn signals, so you have lead time to keep the people you want to keep. [See how TeamPredict works](https://www.teampredict.ai/retention-software) [Back to the HR glossary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#nine-box-grid), where all 52 terms are defined.