When you look at your team, it might seem that fixing the problems of low performers is the most pressing need. Our minds naturally look for outliers and try to solve what appear to be problems. As such, leaders spend excessive time trying to compensate for their least productive employees instead of helping their strongest contributors move faster and do more.
It seems counterintuitive. However, focusing on high performers and bolstering their motivation and performance is more productive towards organizational effectiveness. Research has noted that high performers lift everyone around them. Their work ethic, attention to detail, and commitment to quality can motivate team members to strive for improvement.
- Top performers generate 2.6 times the sales ROI of average employees.
- High achievers in high-complexity roles are up to 800% more productive than average performers.
- High performers are up to 400% more productive than the average performer.
Successful organizations that focus on building a culture committed to uplifting high performers ensure this top talent is retained and attracts new team members who bring their A-game to the team.
How to create a culture that supports high performers
Creating a culture supporting high performers requires leaders to focus on their most effective employees.
Set clear, ambitious goals
High performers thrive on challenges, and leaders communicate trust in achieving those goals. Establish concrete, stretching objectives that align with your organization’s vision. Ensure goals are specific, measurable, and time-bound. Tie those goals to your high performers’ Motivational Dimensions for the greatest effectiveness.
Provide autonomy
Trust your top talent to determine how best to achieve their goals. Micromanagement stifles creativity and motivation. Give high performers the freedom to innovate and take calculated risks.
Reduce meetings to the minimum viable number so top talent can spend time on more interesting, impactful work, but don’t eliminate them entirely. Providing an opportunity to connect ensures your high-performing employees can communicate with their counterparts and inspire them toward greater productivity.
Offer regular feedback
Don’t wait for annual reviews. Implement frequent check-ins to provide timely, actionable feedback, allowing high performers to refine their approach and grow continuously. Acknowledge and reward your high achievers for their individual accomplishments. Never say, “Great job, team.” Broad positive feedback gets lost in the message and doesn’t allow high performers to take ownership of what they’ve done. Instead, focus on each individual and acknowledge and celebrate their achievements. No matter what Motivational Dimension your high performers operate from, they’ll need to feel recognized. Achievers, however, need this recognition most.
Create growth opportunities
Top talent craves development, growth, and a focus on the future. Offer mentorship programs, challenging assignments, and pathways for advancement. Invest in their skills through training and educational opportunities.
Top performers want to feel that their work matters for the organization’s future and their own individual growth. If you’ve got Learners on your team, continuous learning is a cornerstone of their motivation. Ensure you’ve incorporated future-focused learning that ties in with your organization’s purpose and vision.
Foster healthy competition
Create an environment where team members encourage each other to excel. Inspire knowledge sharing and collaboration while also celebrating individual achievements.
Organize challenges that involve different departments working together, promoting both competition and collaboration across the organization. Mix up challenges that highlight individual achievements with those that require teamwork to succeed.
Maintain high standards
Don’t tolerate mediocrity. Consistently enforce high-performance expectations across the organization. Top performers will see that lower standards won’t undermine their efforts elsewhere.
Working on a team where mediocrity reigns can demoralize a high performer. They may feel that their achievements don’t matter, that lower-performing peers are hindering their efforts, or start looking for more rewarding opportunities. True high performers do not want to be the smartest person in the room if the rest of the room is holding them back.
Promote work-life balance
Work-life balance is crucial for high-performing employees to maintain their productivity, creativity, and overall well-being. While these individuals often have a strong drive to excel in their careers, neglecting personal life and self-care can lead to burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and ultimately, a decline in performance.
By prioritizing work-life balance, high-performing employees can sustain their peak performance over time, leading to greater job satisfaction, improved mental health, and increased loyalty to their organization. Employers who recognize and support this balance often see better retention rates among their top talent and a more positive workplace culture overall.
Cultivate psychological safety
In an environment where psychological safety is prioritized, these top performers feel secure in taking calculated risks, sharing innovative ideas, and providing honest feedback without fear of negative consequences or judgment. This sense of security fosters creativity, encourages collaborative problem-solving, and promotes a culture of continuous improvement. High-performing employees thrive when they can voice concerns, admit mistakes, and seek help without worrying about damaging their reputation or standing within the organization.
Psychological safety also enables them to push boundaries and challenge the status quo, leading to breakthroughs and advancements that benefit both the individual and the company. Moreover, it reduces stress and anxiety, allowing these employees to focus their energy on their work rather than on self-preservation.
By cultivating psychological safety, organizations can create an atmosphere where high performers feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their best efforts, ultimately driving innovation, productivity, and overall organizational success.
Focus on motivation to build culture
Building this type of culture requires consistent effort and commitment from leadership. However, the payoff of increased innovation, productivity, and retention of top talent makes it well worth the investment. Learning how your high performers are motivated provides leaders with critical understanding to help their teams find greater fulfillment. When high performers are motivated and aligned with organizational values, their output and inspiration lift up the entire organization.
If you’re looking to bring Motivation Code to your organization, reach out to our team. We’d be happy to explore how Motivation Code can help you set up your organizational culture for success.
