When HR assesses its coaching needs, underperformers are often the chief focus. After all, these are workers who lack enthusiasm, focus and a proper work ethic. Their slow productivity can create financial burdens, resulting in damage to the company’s reputation and bottom line. It’s for these valid reasons that HR pays close attention to boosting the performance of those who aren’t reaching their full potential.
But in doing so, HR can often neglect the underperformers’ polar opposites: those always-exceeding-expectations top performers. Dutiful, creative, producing the right results and matching their work ethic to the company’s values and missions, these workers seem set for big things, regardless of HR’s intervention. With success seemingly just a matter of time; there’s often less motivation for HR to keep this group motivated. That represents a real retention danger.
Research on high caliber employees shows the need to pay special attention. Top performers account for an estimated 80% of an organisation’s business revenue. Contrary to some HR practice, these employees thrive on recognition and opportunities for challenge. They are the workers who have earned promotions and bonuses by meeting and exceeding expectations. But if HR does not continue to nurture them, top performers may lose sight of their next attainable career goal – despite that real desire to continue excelling.
Damien Tan, Managing Director, TNT, says the risks go beyond stunted career growth. He says organisations that don’t capitalise on opportunities to engage top employees could lose those employees altogether. “They become disappointed and cynical,” he warns.
Blake Beattie, an Australian-based business coach, agrees. “There is little wonder why many top performers leave organisations,” he says. “Quite simply, their needs are not being met.”
HR’s role in ensuring continuity for top performers should not be underestimated. Playing the parts of mentors, supporters, leaders, and innovators, any HR team has multiple tasks to encourage the continued success of these tall poppies. Mistakes are often made as HR does not know where to focus.
Communication and the anticipation of needs are the two biggest areas of concern, according to John Read, Regional Management Consultant, Hudson. He says HR can often misinterpret what high performers are looking for as individuals as well as employees. Beattie agrees. He says a typical leader might think, ‘what motivates me is what motivates them’, or go straight to the simplest reward system – financial compensation.
But not all employees value a salary increment in the same way. One might have a sick loved one, making time at home a more valuable commodity. Individual circumstances must always be considered, both Beattie and Read say.
“To motivate top performers, it is crucial employers understand what the key drivers of employee motivation are and also that each employee has a different measurement scale on each of these drivers,” says Beattie.
What top performers want
To understand what top performers want, HR must be aware of their strengths and aspirations. Although all high-caliber employees will be different, their competencies and capabilities hold some general similarities.
Beattie says top employees want a challenge that inspires them. They also want to be recognised, in both financial and non-financial terms. A career path is arguably more important than money, and appropriate training and development can work wonders in terms of retention. They also look to mentors for support and performance reviews, so their expectations are on par with those of senior managers.
HR must ensure that these skilled staff are on a structured path toward further success. But these initiatives cannot be temporary. Developmental programmes – although remaining flexible enough to cater to the individual – should provide permanent and continuous support.
Tan encourages creativity in his motivation strategies. Typical tactics might include training workshops, scholarships and salary increments. But the effectiveness of these traditional tools are questionable when high performers have often earned their title through out-of-the-box approaches to business. “Programmes and promotions must be exciting,” says Tan.
He suggests plenty of innovative ways to motivate top performers. The FedEx toolbox includes targeted promotions and cross-functional movement opportunities. Tan says these allow employees to explore new business areas and further develop their strengths.
Employees striving for an eventual leadership role will benefit from a level of visibility and what Tan refers to as “air-time” with the organisation’s top brass. Lunch meetings with the CEO or direct coaching from the senior management team have proven effective at TNT, where the rotation of high performing employees allows them more autonomy in developing their own careers.
Tan recalls his own experience being groomed for a senior management. He says leaders took the time to teach some of the necessary soft skills and impart “war stories” from their own careers. He says their advice played a part when he had to first handle conflicts and ambiguity later on. It made sense to have learned from their experiences, rather than a textbook, and he now looks to do the same with younger up-and-comers.
“You get a real grasp of the business that way,” he says. “The inside stories are seldom communicated but these are some expectations from coaching sessions.”
Another initiative provides talented individuals with leave to work on offshore business development projects, discover new markets or develop new products. Employees see firsthand how they can impact the business and also gain perspective on how it works. “We move them out of the ‘business as usual’ environment, and give them opportunities to impact the business,” says Tan.
Next in line
HR cannot discuss high performers without including high potentials. To ignore them would be to miss a very significant link in the organisation’s succession chain. But managing this relationship does not come without challenges.
“The relationship with high potential employees is fragile,” says Read. This is because of their tentative position on HR’s list of top performers. High potentials have not been recognised because they have not actually performed yet. However, HR sees that they have what it takes to rise up in the organisation.
Read says HR should provide opportunities to high potential employees to fulfill their capabilities and prove they can excel in the organisation. Internal mentoring is valuable here. “Setting up that mentoring system is a role that HR can pursue,” says Read. HR can also conduct assessments to seek out high potentials, and identify their strengths.
As with high performers, the methods of retaining and motivating high potentials will differ according to the organisation’s needs. Some might choose a structured approach while others might be comfortable with more informal recognition and coaching strategies. But this doesn’t diminish the importance of supporting this group. “If you lose performers or forget about high potential employees, what does that say about your commitment to growth?” asks Read.
Companies may be reluctant to extend their coaching efforts to high potentials because of financial constraints, especially in times of budgetary cutbacks. However, the return on investment is worth considering here. “They are the next best place to spend your developmental dollar,” says Read. High potential employees, if groomed well, become an organisation’s next high performers. Read says that if just one more high performer is added to an organisation, growth can increase by 100% or more.
Profile of a top performer
According to Damien Tan, Managing Director, TNT, employees are not identified as top performers simply for doing well – or even exceptionally. He says they need to stand out from the crowd in a number of areas. Top performers are:
+ Highly engaged
+ Highly interested in contributing
+ Produce quality work
+ Keen to learn new things
+ Capable of going further
+ Seen as future leaders of the organisation