It’s the holiday season and end of the year. How is your high performance team doing?
Most CEOs and founders don’t know the real answer, even if they THINK they do. There is no cookie cutter process or formula that works with high performers because they’re driven for different reasons.
This becomes a problem because you don’t know if your high performers are staying or leaving.
The truth for most high performers is that they want to STAY.
They don’t want to be bothered with all that changing jobs requires. They will stay until they feel like they have to go. Often when they leave they’re beyond done with the company.
I am a high performer that has experienced burnout twice in my career. I can recognize an overworked high performer immediately and give them practical tips and tools to help them prevent burnout and stress leave.
3 Tips to Keep Your High Performers Engaged
High performers change jobs when:
1. Their Title and Compensation are not in Alignment with their Results
Compensation is as equally important to a high performer as their title is. If you don’t compensate them AND give them the correct title for the work they do for you, they will eventually take their experience to another company that will.
Overworking is NOT a long term solution for anyone on the team.
I cannot stress this enough – the #1 tip to keep you high performer engaged is to make sure their job title accurately describes the work they do and the compensation equals the work they do.
If you really like the drive of a high performer on your team, tell them. Give them bonuses or extra PTO time. Make sure that your high performers know that they are valuable to your company and that you appreciate them.
I can’t tell you how many high performers leave because of compensation and title alone. Make sure your people are taken care of and that will give them a reason to stay.
2. The Work Environment is Unrealistically Demanding
This is the fastest way to drive your high performer to some sort of medical or stress leave or burnout.
If a high performer complains, LISTEN. If they’re complaining, they’re done.
Just because your high performers CAN get things done on a deadline does not mean to keep them in constant deadlines.
If you need to hire more people, hire more people. If you have a high performer that’s doing the job of 2 or more people, make sure that you compensate them for performing the multiple roles in a company.
The more stressful your work environment, the more likely that your high performance team won’t be as high performing as you’d like.
Stressful environments are ones that encourage long hours and heavy workloads. No worker is meant to function in a stressful environment long term.
This will directly affect your current team members as well as word getting out that you overwork your top talent. It’ll make both hiring and retention difficult.
3. They’re not Fulfilled or Engaged with the Work Anymore
Why do you care if they’re fulfilled or engaged? Their productivity drops and often times, they’re looking for another job.
You don’t want your high performers checked out. If they start doing less, they’re done.
What do you do as the leader?
If a high performer is bored, it’s time for a new title and compensation package that matches their experience and skill level. High performers don’t get bored unless the work is too repetitive or unfulfilling.
Or it could also mean that either they’re not feeling appreciated or they’re tired of feeling stressed out all the time.
High performers are naturally fulfilled and engaged in their work. It’s why they excel and work in ways that other team members can’t.
And just a reminder that you can’t make a high performer. Workers are high performers or they aren’t. So replacing a high performer is costly to every company.
What changes need to be made in your workplace?
What are you seeing and noticing with your high performers?
If you think, oh I have workplace wellness in place and your high performers are NOT taking advantage of it – that’s a problem. WHY aren’t they taking advatage of that, especially when they’re told this is to prevent burnout?
If you need help, schedule a call with me to see how we can increase retention, productivity and have a happy team.
All of these are easy fixes. Make them and they will happily stay.