When considering retaining top-performing employees in a business enterprise, we first need to identify them. It is a common mistake to confuse high-performing employees with high-potential employees. In employee retention, an organization’s highest priority is to recognize those employees who can assume more significant roles and take up more responsibilities in the organization. In short, we look for the next generation of leaders for a company to groom. And this requires the creation of a pool of high-potential employees so they can be given preferential treatment for receiving specialized training. Doing so will keep their motivational levels high by opening up opportunities for their fast-track growth.
However, not every star performer is a high-potential employee. A research study published by Harvard Business Review in May 2010 says that 70% of the current high performers in a company lack the critical attributes needed to succeed in more prominent roles in the future. And that leaves only 30% of high-performers, who are also high-potential. We need to train, retrain and retain these top performers. The same research also shows that few or no low-performers are high-potential. As that solves one-half of the issue, you can limit your search only to high-performing employees to find the talent you need to retain.
Here, we must understand that a high-potential employee has three marked attributes: ability, ambition, and engagement. In this case, ability refers to those technical and emotional capacities and intellectual skills which would demonstrate that the concerned employee can effectively undertake increasingly complex challenges. Ambition is the desire and determination to gain recognition, career advancement, and rewards that align with the company’s needs and objectives. And engagement denotes the level of commitment the employee has for the company and his personal connection with its vision.
Once you have marked your pool of high-potential employees, this is what you do to retain them. Impart specialized training, devise a strategy to keep them engaged, and let them develop under stress. Meanwhile, don’t let line managers handle your stars, don’t protect them from risky assignments, and don’t share unrelated problems of the company with them until they are already in the desired roles. However, never keep them in the dark about the steps or corporate strategy the company is contemplating implementing in the future. Instead, keep them well-informed about every tactical and crucial development without sharing anything that might derail their confidence. Furthermore, always remember that adequate resources and logically acceptable rewards for their hard work and achievements are essential to keep an employee engaged and loyal, and the top performers are no exception.
