Back in February we were all glued to the Olympics in Sochi, and if you’re anything like me, you’re already looking forward to the summer games in 2016. Every two years, the Olympics inspire us with stories of hard-working and incredibly talented athletes—dynamic men and women dedicated to their chosen field. As leaders of organizations, many of us would give our eyeteeth to have a team of similarly dedicated and motivated contributors. Although that sort of absolute life focus is probably unreasonable to expect in your own employees, it doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to enable those high-performing individuals who do exist within your organization to perform at higher and higher levels.
How Do You Support Top Talent?
Beyond their raw skill and natural potential, Olympic athletes possess a couple of success qualities that you’ll also find in your own key talent. They tend to have a high level of intrinsic motivation and an overall vision of what they can achieve. In other words, their actions are connected to a much bigger purpose than the day’s tasks—they have their eye on the gold medal. How does this apply to your workforce? As a leader, help provide a clearly defined picture of what success looks like, and how it fits into the bigger strategic picture. And empower the high performers to do more, such as lead a significant and challenging piece of work. High-performing athletes—and individuals—constantly learn from experience, and they’ll apply that learning to create great things.
Remember, the primary way to support high performers is to provide them the environment to thrive. Nobody gets to an Olympic medal without a rock-solid support network. Organizations that are successful in developing high performers are those that enable them with the tools, information, and inspiration to succeed. They create a true learning environment with real job responsibilities that demand constant growth. You can take this even further by letting high performers know they are valuable and deliberately telling them why they are getting extra responsibilities. This will make them more engaged and willing to put in extra discretionary effort—and less likely to look for another job.
What Does This Look Like Inside an Organization?
Let’s leave the Olympics aside for a moment, and take a look at the underpinnings required to create this sort of environment. First, make sure you have strategic alignment with your top organizational goals. How you select and manage your employees should be driven by what your organization is aiming to achieve. Think about those goals when you think about how you want to cultivate your top talent (do you need creative thinkers? Analytical thinkers? Or is stellar teamwork what you need most? What supportive programs will help grow those skills?). The next step is making sure you have—and communicate—clear expectations of what it takes to be successful. These expectations set the stage for how you attract, select, incent, and retain talent.
They show up across all areas that are considered talent management: workforce planning, career development, succession planning, performance management, and recognition programs. Finally, remember that one of your most critical considerations is the talent you already have. Talent analytics (making effective business decisions by using data on where your talent is, what your talent is, and where gaps exist) can help you identify if you have the right people with the right skills to support your future business needs. If you understand the capability and potential you already have, you’ll be better able to prioritize your investment in cultivating and hiring top talent.
So What’s Stopping You?
One obstacle that often holds us back from nurturing Olympic-caliber employees is the misconception that singling out high-performing individuals is somehow inequitable. This simply isn’t the case—you’re merely helping those who want to reach higher to do so. You can think of it as being fair, if not equal, for all employees—based on the level of effort and drive they demonstrate. Another reason we may hold back is the idea that we really don’t need to support high performers since they are motivated to succeed anyway. Another fallacy: Research shows that without employer support and encouragement, employees expend as much as 30 percent less discretionary effort. And, even more alarmingly, 25 percent of high performers are looking for new jobs because they are not engaged (SHRM.org “The Care and Feeding of High Potential Employees” August 1, 2011). High performers, like Olympic athletes, have high standards for themselves, far-reaching personal goals, and the avid desire to grow and develop in their chosen profession. If you don’t provide the necessary incubator for developing their skills, they will look elsewhere.
As we look back at the Olympics in Sochi, now is a good time to take a look at how you’re nurturing your top talent. Think of yourself as an Olympic coach, and start looking at your top people as elite athletes. Provide them with opportunities to prove themselves—and for them to learn in the process. Give them feedback and celebrate their wins. Make sure you both have a clear vision of where they are going, and how it helps support your organization’s strategic goals. And support them with a solid environment that gives them the tools to succeed—while helping you identify the next round of superstars to cultivate. Gaining clarity on where your talent potential is and how to bring out their highest capability will help lead your organization to deliver Olympic-caliber business results.
Sam Crumley is a consultant with PeopleFirm, a strategy and implementation consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations achieve a competitive advantage through their people. PeopleFirm partners with clients to design and implement talent-centric solutions to today’s workforce challenges. The company’s service areas include People Strategy, Organizational Performance, Talent Management, and Change Management. For more information, visit http://www.peoplefirm.com.
