If you’re in a leadership position at your organization, I want you to picture the people you consider your star performers. These individuals – who could be at any level in your organization – are the ones who’s talent is above and beyond what you ever expected….the ones who make up the future of your company.
Have that person pictured in your head? Good. Now, consider these numbers:
- 1 in 3 high potential employees admit to not putting all his or her effort into their job.
- 1 in 4 believes that he or she will be working for another employer in a year.
- 1 in 5 believe that his or her personal aspirations are quite different from what the organization has planned for them.
All of these numbers came from an article published in Harvard Business Review based on a study of over 20,000 employees dubbed “emerging stars”. The full citation is at the end of this post.
Surprised? Perhaps you’re making one (or more!) of the 6 common mistakes this article discusses:
Mistake 1: Assuming your star performers are highly engaged with your organization
These individuals are well aware that they out work, and out produce, their peers and they expect their organizations to treat them well as a result. If you don’t, they will find somewhere else to go. Don’t take them for granted. As soon as you do, they will leave you for an organization that will give them the things they want. Make sure to recognize your top talent early and often, linking their goals with your business goals, and getting them involved in helping to solve the company’s biggest problems.
Mistake 2: Equating current high performance with future potential
The research in this article shows that 70% of top performers lack critical attributes essential to success in their future roles. They’ve got to have three key attributes: Ability, Engagement, and Aspiration.You’ve got to look for employees with all three of those attributes when making investments in developing talent – even missing one of them could cause you to invest in a “star” who’s just going to jump ship, rather than the ones who not only have the talent, but are also engaged with your organization and aspire to higher positions.
Mistake 3: Delegating down the management of top talent
In theory, delegation makes sense. However, in the case of top talent, it doesn’t work. These employees need to be managed like a long-term corporate asset. For instance, Johnson & Johnson runes the LeAd program in which individuals with high potential participate in a 9 month program where they receive advice from individuals inside, and outside, the company, develop a growth project, and leave the program with an individual development plan that is periodically reviewed by a group of senior HR heads.
Mistake 4: Shielding rising stars from early derailment
A key part of developing this type of talent is to push them. That means you have to pub them in real world conditions that will test their ability to manage big problems, deal with stress, and where they have a legitimate chance of failing. This is how they will develop the capabilities they need to lead the company into the future.
Mistake 5: Expecting your star performers to share the pain
Money is not the primary motivator of your high performers. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t expect to be paid handsomely for their role. High potential employees put in more than 20% more effort than other employees in the same role. And make no mistake – they know it. Even if you don’t have an official program recognizing and developing your high potential employees, don’t cut back on bonuses or freeze the salaries of this group – the investment will more than pay for itself in the long run.
Mistake 6: Failing to link your stars to your corporate strategy
Your top performers are acutely aware of the role they play in your organization’s success. In fact, research shows that confidence in their managers and in the organization’s capabilities is one of the strongest factors in determining their engagement. You’ve got to make sure you’re sharing your strategy with these individuals, even if it is on a privileged basis. If you don’t, you risk losing their engagement, which could lead to them jumping ship.
Like this article?
Related Reading Material
Martin, J., & Schmidt, C. (2010). How to Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard Business Review, 88(5), 54-61.
oo often, managers do all the talking in a feedback situation, something I like to call the dreaded Manager’s Monologue – and that is guaranteed to cause trouble. It is vital to engage the employee in open dialogue; to seek to understand their thought processes and reasons. If you don’t listen to them, you may not get a clear understanding as to why the employee is behaving in this manner (do they lack skills, knowledge, etc). You will also increase the likelihood that they will not listen to you.;
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This was a very interesting read on managing star performers. While managing star performers, we tend to neglect the other employees in the team. Maintaining a balance is the key, as rightly explained in the below article.
http://blog.bayt.com/2014/06/how-to-manage-your-star-performers-effectively/
I actually disagree with this – this isn’t about fairness or balance. If you spread your time equally between an A player and a C player, you may get your C player to a B player, but you will still get more out of your A player. That’s not to say you should ignore the other players on your team – that’s abdicating your responsibility as a manager. But the idea that you need to balance your time fairly is just not true.