In the context of increased voluntary turnover, accurately identifying and retaining high-potential employees has become critical for organizations. This study examines the extent of potential misidentification among employees and its impact on voluntary turnover within a Big 4 accounting firm. Utilizing proprietary personnel data matched with survey responses measuring technical and tacit knowledge, we assess whether potential ratings align with these forms of expertise across different hierarchical levels. The findings indicate that potential ratings are positively associated with technical knowledge but not with tacit knowledge, leading to the misidentification of true high potentials (HiPos). Additionally, HiPos whose expertise is not fully recognized are more likely to leave the firm, particularly in managerial positions. These results suggest that uninformative potential ratings may affect both talent retention efforts and employees' turnover decisions. The study contributes to the literature on performance-potential assessment systems and highlights the potential risk of talent loss due to misidentification in organizations.