3 Ways to Motivate High-Performing Employees

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, HR Strategy: Job Leveling (26-slide PowerPoint presentation). Job Leveling is a disciplined approach to gauge the value of work for individual positions across the organization. It entails ascertaining the nature of work done by each position, authority levels, and the effect of each job on business results. Jobs that are configured inadequately bread [read more]

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Good talent is hard to find in today’s increasingly competitive job market, so it’s in your best interests to nurture the talent within your company and keep them inspired. While it’s undoubtedly crucial to recognize high-performing employees, what’s more important is to continually challenge them and allow them to grow within the organization.

Our post on ‘The 3 Effective Tests of Assessing Human Dynamics of the Board’ underscores taking care of your team as one of the most sustainable ways to help your organization succeed. However, in this post we will outline three considerations every manager needs to keep in mind in order to motivate high-performing employees.

Ask them to lead other team members

Delegating is an old management tactic, but it’s still around because it’s so effective. In fact, Comeet suggests that lack of mobility and growth are significant variables when it comes to high employee turnover rates. Not only does delegating effectively lessen your workload, but it also helps empower your employees. You don’t even have to start big; asking your employees to help oversee one or two of their team members can go a long way in creating leadership opportunities. From there, having discussions with your employees about how they lead shows that you’re invested in their personal development. Having your employees take on leadership roles naturally opens up avenues for mentorship, which can then give your employees a clearer idea of their potential career trajectory within the company.

Allow them to take on other tasks

Try asking high-performing employees to try their hand at other tasks. This gives your employees a greater appreciation of how they fit into the company’s overall operations, and it also provides them with the necessary learning opportunities for them to feel like they’re growing. Asking them to conduct interviews is a great example of another responsibility they can try. Chron‘s guide to effective interviews notes that interviewing is in itself a skill that needs to be mastered, and learning how to listen and ask the right questions are skills that will guide your employees throughout their careers. Great leaders should also be great followers, and asking high-performing employees to work with HR for some interview tips can help their development as followers, too.

Keep constructive criticism at the forefront

Recognition is important for high-performing employees, but you also don’t want to enforce the idea that your high-performing employees are infallible. This 2016 article from Entrepreneur on the dangers of a big ego still rings true, as a big ego can prevent your employees from accepting criticism, learning from their mistakes, and thus moving forward. You can curb this potential problem by always giving your employees concrete ways that they can improve – those who take criticism well and look for continued opportunities to grow are those you want to help develop. You should also encourage the other team members around them, and remind high-performing employees in leadership positions to do the same. This will create a strong sense of teamwork and cohesion.

If you’re lucky enough to have high-performing employees in your team, the next step is to nurture their talent and prime them to keep progressing. Remembering these tips can help create a supportive environment for all employees, stellar ones included.

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Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Human Resource Management (HRM). Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.

The purpose of Human Resources (HR) is to ensure our organization achieves success through our people. Without the right people in place—at all levels of the organization—we will never be able to execute our Strategy effectively.

This begs the question: Does your organization view HR as a support function or a strategic one? Research shows leading organizations leverage HR as a strategic function, one that both supports and drives the organization's Strategy. In fact, having strong HRM capabilities is a source of Competitive Advantage.

This has never been more true than right now in the Digital Age, as organizations must compete for specialized talent to drive forward their Digital Transformation Strategies. Beyond just hiring and selection, HR also plays the critical role in retaining talent—by keeping people engaged, motivated, and happy.

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