What is Nine-Box Grid?

The nine-box grid (also called the 9-box matrix) is a talent management tool that evaluates employees across two dimensions: current performance (low, moderate, high) and future potential (low, moderate, high). The intersection creates nine categories, from "high performance / high potential" (often called "stars" or "future leaders") to "low performance / low potential" (typically targeted for performance improvement or role change).

Organizations use the nine-box grid during talent review and calibration sessions to create a visual snapshot of their talent landscape. It helps leaders identify who is ready for promotion, who needs development investment, who is at risk of stagnation, and who may be in the wrong role. The grid is particularly useful for succession planning because it highlights the pipeline of employees who could fill critical leadership positions.

Critics of the nine-box grid argue that it oversimplifies human capability into a two-dimensional matrix and that the concept of "potential" is poorly defined and prone to bias — research shows that assessments of potential tend to favor extroverted, visible employees and can disadvantage women, introverts, and underrepresented groups. Progressive organizations address these concerns by clearly defining what "potential" means (using specific indicators like learning agility, ambition, and adaptability), grounding placements in evidence rather than gut feel, and calibrating across diverse groups to check for systematic bias.

The nine-box grid gives organizations a shared language and visual framework for talent decisions that would otherwise be made in isolation by individual managers. It surfaces talent gaps and succession risks at a strategic level, enabling proactive development investment. However, its value depends entirely on the rigor of the assessments that populate it — a nine-box filled with biased, uncalibrated data does more harm than good.