How do I help my high performers – part 2
Posted by
Last week we talked about how to help high performers who are happy in role, and want to stay put. How can you help high performers whose key desire is to take on more responsibility in the organisation and move their careers forward?
- Take time to understand what they love doing. This will be the basis for their future career. Ask them to spend a week sorting the work they’re doing into two columns – “Green: Activities I love doing” or “Red: Activities I don’t enjoy doing”.
This helps them to start building up a picture of the work that energises them (and that will form a key component in any future career move), and the things they dislike doing (and will want to limit in their next job). For more insights, ask them about other jobs they’ve held in the past. Ask “What was the best bit about that job? What gave you most satisfaction?” - Do they have a view on the future? Do you know where they want to go next? According to our research, 90% of people don’t have a five-year career plan – they might only know what they want as the next move. How can you help them make that next move?
Bear in mind that they might be uncomfortable telling you their aspirations and worry you may tell them they can’t achieve it, or try to push them in another direction. So remember to be reassuring when they’re talking about their future aspirations. Hold a free flowing conversation, that starts by looking at their strengths and what energises them, and progresses onto several possibilities that they can investigate in parallel. Can HR help by identifying a wider range of roles that would use their strengths? - Help them target roles. A great way to target a job is to shadow a high performer in that role, and talk to that person about the challenges of the role, and the skills and experience needed. How can you be sure that they are shadowing a high performer? Ask HR or senior management to nominate someone who is excellent at the job! Get your team member to talk to HR about how candidates for the role are assessed. What would stand out on a CV? What experience really helps?
Ask the team member to make a list of why they would be perfect for the job and build up a list of positives – and also to identify one or two things they need to improve. Help them plan their development in line with their ambitions. - Delegate work that’s good for their development. Could they do parts of your job, to gain experience – for example in managing people, or a budget? Could you rotate roles within your team, so that they can put a wider range of experience on their CV?
- Give them projects that are good for their CV. Look for projects where they can make a difference. Encourage them to measure ‘before’ and ‘after’ data, to prove that they’ve made an impact.
- Give them exposure to senior people. Can they shadow or do work for someone who could be a good sponsor for their career?
- Encourage them to find and train a successor. You’ll find it hard to release them for opportunities such as secondments or other projects, if it impacts team delivery. Give them responsibility for spotting and training a successor, so that it’s easy for you to release them for project work, and when they’re ready to move into a new role.
The best way to attract high fliers to your team is to prove that you actively promote the careers of team members. This will also give you the reputation for being a ‘nursery for talent’ in the business – which shows your capacity for bigger roles!
How can you help your ambitious high performers to develop their skills and move into their future roles?