Reward your top performers
I haven’t worked in many organizations where there is an abundance of money to throw around. As a result, you usually can’t give everyone pay rises or bonuses. You need to find other ways to provide rewards that are valued by your top performers.
Some leaders tend to shy away from individual rewards, instead opting for team-based rewards. Reward the project team, for example, when they complete the project successfully. Unfortunately, this only really works if it is perceived that the whole team are working equally well.
Even the most minor sense that somebody is not pulling their weight and being rewarded for it will put your top performers offside. They will begin to see that mediocrity is being awarded and become disengaged.
There are many rewards you can offer that do not cost overly much. Training, learning, leadership opportunities and recognition are some simple ways to reward top performers even when money is tight.
Recognition is a surprisingly powerful reward. I have worked with several high performers who simply wanted to be acknowledged as having done a job well done, in front of their peers. It made them feel valued and respected. Treating everyone in your team equally and avoiding public recognition of the strong contributions of your top performers, will make them feel as if they aren’t valued.
Have you ever been having a bad day and then had somebody give you an unexpected compliment? “Hey you did a great job with that presentation.” Praise can make people feel fantastic.
Give your top performers the credit
There are leaders out there who take the credit for other people’s work. Top performers are most at risk because they do great work. However, some leaders are afraid of alienating their standard performers by heaping too much praise on their best team members.
This can result in nobody getting credit for the work performed. Then by default, the leader of the team takes the credit. This tends to alienate the people who really did the work.
Giving credit isn’t something to be afraid of. Just because you give credit, doesn’t mean you are not as valuable as your top performing team members. You create the conditions for that great work to happen and provide guidance, so your role is valuable too.
You don’t want your top performers running out the door. They need to be engaged, challenged and rewarded. Failing to do so will result in your top performers leaving and your average performers staying.
Don’t shy away from treating your high performing team members well for fear of upsetting others. Remember, turnover is your friend, but only if it’s not always your best players.
Originally published at www.thoughtfulleader.com on July 12, 2017.
Author: Ben Brearley