Risk & Business Magazine Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers Fall 2015 | Page 21

or younger qualify as Millennials, and
in just a few years they will constitute
the majority of employees. They are
our future! So, managers HAVE to
accommodate their high needs or end up
hiring C Player Millennials.

Brad: Sure, but to really jack up their
loyalty and motivation write personal
notes of congratulations or thanks to
someone every week. Jack Welch (former
CEO of General Electric) did this and
recipients would be thrilled.

R&B: So, what are some simple
things managers can do to retain high
performers?

R&B: Since a lot of companies consider
retaining high performers a big challenge,
what big steps can they take?

Brad: A lot! Managers can Google “salary
surveys” and for a few bucks you can see if
you’re paying people in their range. Then
figure you need to pay high performers a
bit more.

Brad: Go after “Best Company to Work
For” awards … not for the trophy but
to become known as a company high
performers love. Employees are all over
the Internet these days and easily find
out if your company attracts and holds
onto high performers with an exciting
vision, career progression, flex hours, or
whatever. Ease up on rules so A Players
feel they can soar a bit without having
to conform to rigid rules. Google any
of the high tech companies to see what
they do – a LOT - to attract and hold high
performers.

R&B: Is it all about pay?
Brad: Fortunately, no. High performers
will quit if underpaid but they stay for
different reasons.
R&B: Like what?
Brad: Recognition, appreciation, and
pats on the back, a feeling that they are
important in your company, and they
embrace the mission – they want their
work to help save the world.
R&B: How can you find out if the needs
of high performers are being satisfied?
Brad: Just ask them, frequently. And
listen, really listen to them because they
will tell you if they are happy campers
and what they like and dislike about the
job, the company, and the leaders. Ask
what you can do to help them achieve
their career goals, which is just a different
way of asking how you can retain them.
A second suggestion is to make
performance goals clear and achieving
them even clearer.
R&B: Why?
Brad: High performers love to put
points on the scoreboard; they want
clear goals because they like to show
off – to exceed those goals. Create
not just job descriptions with lists of
responsibilities (what to do) but with
measurable accountabilities (what results
are expected). When they do well, praise
the heck out of them.
R&B: By doing what – complimenting
them at meetings?

R&B: What are good ways to help people
grow?
Brad: Create opportunities for people to
grow. When managers are on vacation,
make someone Acting Manager. Invite
high potential employees to participate in
special projects. Put 6 high performers
on a real life project that involves them
in each other’s areas, with a scheduled
presentation to the CEO. They will learn,
contribute, and feel appreciated.
R&B:: What in your 30+ years of
experience is the single most important
thing a company can do to pack their
company with high performers?

Brad: Right! Jim Collins’ best selling
books advocate hiring the best people –
“get the right people on the bus first and
then figure out where to go.” Thousands
of Topgraders would say, that is very true.
R&B: What is Topgrading Super Lite –
the most basic step?
Brad: Ok, here goes – decades of research
boils down to: Step 1: tell candidates
they will have to arrange reference calls
with former bosses. High performers
love to do it, and low performers drop
out. Good. Step 2: ask candidates to go
through their entire career – ask them for
successes, mistakes, and how their boss
would rate their overall performance.
Since they might have to arrange a call
with their manager they don’t like (Brad,
is something missing here, it just drops
off?). The Topgrading Interview covers
everything necessary for someone to be
an A Player.
R&B: And the final step?
Brad: Simple. Step 3: make those
reference calls the candidate arranged
with former bosses. This is the only way
to verify that the person you interviewed
has been, and will be, a high performer.
R&B: Great, so your message is to first
hire almost all high performers in all
jobs using best practices and then to
create a positive, exciting organization
culture with plenty of recognition and
developmental opportunities. Good
advice, Brad, for hiring and retaining
high performers!

Brad: Since you can’t retain people you
don’t hire, and since the average manager
hires only 25% high performers, hiring is
the first priority.
R&B: That was the topic of your article
Hiring is Risky Business in the summer
issue of R&B. It’s amazing that hundreds
of small and large companies (click here
to read the article) have tripled their
success hiring high performers. Basically
you reported that named case studies
improved hiring high performers from
26% to 85% using three simple steps. You
call it Topgrading.

Dr. Brad Smart is an internationally
renowned management psychologist
and \