How to Manage High Performers

High performers are an essential asset to any company. With the ability to achieve their goals and improve company performance, these individuals go the extra mile beyond their job descriptions. However, they come with unique managerial challenges and require support to thrive. As a leader, it’s vital to identify and care for your high-performing team members to ensure they continue driving results for your company.

“Leaders are made … and not born.”

Who Are High Performers?

A high performer is an individual who goes above and beyond to achieve in all areas at work. They’re incredibly hard-working, organized and optimistic people. High performers have a powerful internal motivation system they use to go past their limits, typically powered by harsh self-criticism and high personal standards.

If an employee is a high performer, they often take initiative and focus on improving workplace habits and behaviors so others can benefit from their actions. Since high performers are reliable, they often become the go-to people for their peers and supervisors.

The Challenges of Managing High Performers

High performers tend to perform well consistently and have many strong suits. While this is a good thing, it can also cause issues and interfere with their happiness at work. Without ample opportunities and challenges, high performers inevitably become stuck or bored. They can accumulate high workloads, which leads to feelings of intense pressure and burnout. High performers may also struggle to work with others, communicate well, provide constructive feedback or take ownership of their mistakes.

The truth is that most managers find people who experience some challenges easier to lead. We have things for them to work on, items to discuss in one-on-ones and phrases to fill the text fields of performance reviews and development plans. With high performers, managers need a different approach to keep them engaged, motivated and inspired.

Tips for Managing High Performers

High-performing talent can make or break the success of a project, so it’s essential to provide support and supervision to keep them happy in their roles. Here are some tips for managing high performers:

• Give clear expectations: High performers thrive on meeting goals and exceeding standards. Setting clear goals enables high performers to understand how you will judge their performance and feel satisfied when they meet expectations. Make a clear distinction between your basic, everyday work expectations and the goals that are challenging.
• Offer autonomy: Giving high-performing employees the freedom to determine their schedule enables you to avoid micromanagement and motivate high performers. Provide them with the tools to succeed and step back to watch them shine.
• Adjust workload accordingly: It may be tempting to send your high performers as many tasks as possible because you know they will complete them. Over time, this approach can lead to burnout and feeling exploited. Effective leaders monitor progress, adjust the workload accordingly and redistribute tasks to keep high performers and the entire team on track.
• Talk about growth and development: High performers want to know they’re progressing on projects and in their careers. As a leader, you can engage high performers in frequent conversations about growth and development to help them find new and challenging work in their current positions and future promotions.
• Learn to delegate: Letting go of your fears around delegating enables you to give high performers new tasks and challenges, working to keep them engaged. Giving them responsibility shows that you trust them, which can improve your relationship.
• Give feedback and recognition: High performers like to know how they’re doing to improve and grow. Meet with them in regular one-on-one meetings where you offer constructive criticism of their performance and reward their efforts and contributions. They’ll feel valued and have new areas to work on, helping them stay engaged.
• Implement performance reviews: Conduct structured performance reviews to evaluate their progress and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Discover their career goals and help them develop a plan to achieve them.

Retaining High Performers

High performers are a vital asset to any organization, but they require sufficient challenge, growth opportunities and appreciation at work to thrive. When they have this experience, they’re more likely to stay. Implement the following to retain the high performers in your team.

1. Conduct Stay Interviews

A stay interview is a relatively simple tool you can use to ensure your employees are happy and want to stay. To conduct one, meet up with your high-performing employee to gauge their interest levels and find out what they do and don’t enjoy about their role. Ask what would make them consider leaving and what would motivate them to stay. These meetings will show you care about their happiness and value their contributions to the company. Once the interview is complete, create a plan to improve any negative aspects they mention.

2. Create a Positive Work Environment

While slightly more challenging to accomplish, creating a work environment where employees enjoy spending their time is essential if you want them to stay. This is particularly true for high performers, as they may find another job quickly thanks to their work ethic and achievements. You can create a positive work environment by prioritizing your employees’ physical and mental wellness and encouraging self-care. You should also foster open communication and collaboration, offer support and encouragement, and build respectful, trusting relationships with all team members.

3. Provide Growth Opportunities

High performers like to know they have room to grow in their current role, otherwise they may become bored and stagnant. A simple way to achieve this is to identify their career goals and assign work that aligns with them. Create a clear career advancement path so they know how to grow in their role and the organization. You can also give them opportunities to learn from others through mentorship programs and boost their skills with training and development courses.

Take Your High Performers to the Next Level With The Center for Leadership Studies

If you’re looking to optimize how you manage high-performers on your team, The Center for Leadership Studies is here to help. We are the global home of the Situational Leadership^® Model and can personalize our courses to meet your exact needs.

We invite you to complete our online contact form today to learn more.