It should come as no surprise that roughly half of all top performing employees are actively seeking new career opportunities. These A-list employees are typically those that have very high goals for their careers, and they will not be loyal to your company if something more attractive comes along. Companies that want to outperform their competitors had better take note of this trend and do something to keep their top performers, for maximum profitability. Here are some steps to ensure retention of highly motivated employees.
Regularly Evaluate and Develop Skill Sets
A good rule of thumb when trying to retain top performers is to know whom they are and recognize any rising stars among the employee roll. Doing this means regularly evaluating employee skill sets and developing those who show true potential. It can be easy to forget that there are valuable team members within the ranks of existing employees, since many are going to school for advanced degrees or participating in work training programs. Don’t make the mistake of only searching for these gems in new hires, as there are many achievers already at work in your company. Take the time to seek out these folks and do everything in your power to help them find their career path within your corporate structure.
Support Employee Mentoring
Mentoring can be a great way for you to be in more than one place at one time as an HR professional. Encouraging existing, seasoned employees to take an active role in the development of less experienced employees is a no-cost way of enhancing skill sets and employee morale. Mentors also have the added benefit of being given more responsibility, which gives them a sense of accomplishment and loyalty to the company. It’s important to match new hires up with seasoned employees early on for the best way to identify and retain top performers.
Provide Training and Career Advancement Opportunities
Top performers are not always interested in jumping ship solely over money concerns. Oftentimes, A-listers are just lacking a good challenge or career advancement on the job, therefore they seek this elsewhere. Any organization can benefit from putting in place a career advancement program for each department, so that high achievers can set goals and attain them while on the job. This serves both the employees and the company in that work will be of higher quality, there is a sense of accomplishment and top performers lead to higher levels of productivity among many team members.
Engage Top Performers for Maximum Productivity
To keep the best employees in the game, it’s a common practice to hold regular meetings and events to help them stay motivated and engaged in the success of the company. Give your A-list employees reason to come to work every day with challenges and tasks that are within their abilities. Ask employees through frequent surveys what other responsibilities, ideas and needs they have. Accept and implement new ideas whenever possible. This activity alone can provide insight into developing more educational programs that benefit all levels of employees.
Promote a Performance-Focused Environment
Every employee needs to feel inspired to do the work he or she has been tasked with. Top performers just happen to need a little more challenge in order to keep them interested. A performance based organization is the right environment for top performers. Be sure to set goals for each employee at employee evaluation time, encourage friendly competitions, and keep employees motivated for the best chance at retaining your key performers for the long term.
Need more help developing a workable employee retention program for your organization? Consult with the human resources specialists at Advance Staffing Solutions today!
