Senior leaders all have one task in common—responsibility for supporting employee development while growing organizational capacity. Too often, however, confronting poor performers takes attention and energy away from the more important priority: to encouraging good performers to excel. The result can shortchange the loyal and committed people responsible for past and future successes.
- High performers are a greater liability to your organization if they don’t get meaningful attention and support, because it’s their attitude and energy that set the standards for others.
- It’s pretty easy to ‘‘turn off ’’ your high performers. Here are some deadly phrases that leaders inadvertently use without appreciating the consequences:
- ‘‘Let’s get your evaluation over with . . . thank goodness I don’t have any issues with you.’’
- ‘‘I know you won’t like this assignment but I’ve got no time to train someone else.’’
- ‘‘I can’t possibly let you go on training . . . no one can do your job while you’re gone.’’
- ‘‘I know that what I’ve given you is a stretch, but you’ll figure it out.’’
- ‘‘If you think you have a crummy job, then spend one day in my shoes. You’ll see that being the boss is even worse.’’
- What to do if you’ve been even a little guilty of that behavior? Here are some quick fixes that can make a long-term difference:
- Love in the Workplace. Spend some time finding out what people love to do, and create assignments that bring a balance of risk and excitement to their roles. You know what they can do, but not what they love. Put passion back into performance!
- Promote from Within. Use your networks and influence to create an opportunity for a high performer to serve in a high-profile or executive role in an industry or professional association. Reward performance with enhanced networks, influence, and leadership challenges.
- Be a Matchmaker. Create an opportunity for a high performer to have an information meeting with someone who is a business role model, or create a customized mentoring partnership with a senior manager. (You’ll learn a lot about someone’s ambitions and values when you learn about her role models.)
- Publish or Perish. Reproduce a speech or project that your high performer has undertaken. Make it look professional and attractive and give the performer lots of extra copies for his portfolio. And don’t forget, your organization’s name gets some circulation too.
- Train to Gain. Go beyond the standard course offerings. Send the high performer off to a unique course that develops an area of interest that she is passionate about even though it may only be indirectly related to her job. These courses are more energizing and personal than expensive executive-development courses, and are far more likely to keep someone attached to the organization.
- Life Before the Exit Interview. Exit interviews happen too late! Why not approach some high performers and acknowledge that you’re pleased they’ve stayed? Find out what you and your organization do well, and how you can do those things more often and even better. It’s an enormous compliment to be approached for honest discussion and acknowledgment of one’s worth.
In a nutshell, good performers need feedback, encouragement, and acknowledgment. These strategies are simple and inexpensive, especially when you compare them to the cost of replacing good talent. An effective leader turns good performance into great outcomes. And that’s the real satisfaction of leadership today.