If you want your company to excel and outperform the competition, you need high performers in your business.

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Simply put, the more high-performing employees you have, the better your company will perform and the easier it’ll be to achieve your business goals.

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In this guide, we’ll show you how to attract, retain, and make your high-performing employees your best asset. 

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How To Recognize High Performers 

Before you learn how to retain your high performers, you first need to recognize a high-performing employee. Typically, high performers share the following traits:

• They are innovative and always open to new challenges

• They tend to be the “go-to” source for other employees

• They are intuitive and naturally know what to do

• They hold themselves accountable for their performance

• They are transparent and honest in their dealings with others

• They are proactive rather than reactive

• They are self-motivated employees

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These are the top traits that make high-performing employees a valuable asset to your business. 

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Alan Benson determined that high-performing employees deliver, on average, 400% more productivity than other employees.

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If you want your business to succeed in a growing, competitive market, you need to attract top talent. 

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Steps For Attracting High Performers 

One of the best ways to attract high-performing employees is to look at connections with thought leaders in your industry. By doing this, you’ll be actively headhunting top talent. 

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You should never be afraid to approach a talented individual, even if they’re happily employed elsewhere. 

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You could entice them to join your company by showing them what you have to offer. Offer employees perks and benefits that they’re not currently getting from their employer.

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During recruitment, you should also show the potential employee how your company solves exciting problems that can fuel their personal and professional growth. 

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When you recruit an active, passionate employee, chances are they’ll excel and quickly turn into a high-performing employee in your company.

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Once you’ve secured that high-performing individual, the next step is to retain your top talent. You retain your top talent by managing them well.

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Steps For Managing And Retaining High-Performing Employees 

To manage and retain your high-performing employees, you need well-trained managers who understand what drives a high performer.

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However, it’s not just up to the managers to retain your top talent. The company culture, employee appreciation, and growth opportunities are essential to keeping your best employees engaged. 

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Here are our seven favorite tips for managing and retaining high performers in your business.

1. Avoid Micromanagement And Stress Flexibility Instead

Typically top performers have an innate drive to get the job done. They are self-starters and crave the autonomy to operate in a way that suits their personalities. 

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Micromanagement often stifles their drive, causing them to lose interest and enthusiasm for the task at hand. So, it’s best to provide high performers enough freedom to get the work done.

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Supervisors need to stay open-minded enough to learn from high performers. These employees will often discover new, efficient and innovative ways to manage their roles effectively. 

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When managers recognize this, the entire organization can benefit.

2. Give Constructive Feedback On A Consistent Basis 

We find that most high-performing employees are continuously looking at ways to improve their performance. So, providing them with consistent, constructive feedback is vital to ensure that they stay on top of their game. 

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You can hold regular meetings (weekly or monthly) to review their work. During this process, offer them feedback, and prompt them to discuss their goals. 

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Related: 4 Ways To Reward Employees Who Go Above & Beyond

3. Provide Them With The Tools They Need To Succeed 

Use the regular meetings with your top talent to discuss how your organization can best support them. 

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Provide your top talent with systems, whether a new email system, reporting tools, or some other resource that can help eliminate their current obstacles. 

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With fewer obstacles in their way, high-performing employees will perform even better, making it easier for the company to achieve its overall business goals.

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There’s an additional benefit when you provide top performers with the right tools and training. 

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When the organization takes an interest, they will feel valued and appreciated. 

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An employee that feels valued is a loyal employee that’ll stay with your organization for a long time.

4. Inform Them How They Can Contribute And Benefit 

High-performing employees are often looking for new opportunities and challenges. When your organization assigns a unique project to a high-performing employee, they’ll stay motivated and interested.

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When assigning a high performer a particular task, inform them that they’ll be mastering new skills by completing the task. 

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High performers love to face a challenge, and exciting, new projects are a great way to show them that your company offers them ample opportunity to grow.

5. Provide Ample Opportunities For Growth And Development 

When you offer your top talent ample opportunity to grow and develop, they’ll stay engaged and happy for much longer. 

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You can help them grow by paving a career path within your organization that aligns with your business goals and their particular passions. 

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Encourage your top-performing employees with new learning opportunities. Offer them online courses opportunities to attend conferences or specific networking events to connect with other like-minded high performers. 

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By demonstrating that you want them to develop and improve their skills continuously, they stay engaged and interested in your business.

6. Group Your Top Talent With Like-Minded Employees 

One of the reasons top talent stays at companies such as Apple is because they get to work with other like-minded, high-performing employees. 

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If, however, you can’t build a team filled with high performers, the next best option would be to assign an inspirational senior mentor to your top talent. 

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It would be best to let your best-performing employees help with recruiting and interviewing potential candidates. By doing this, they’ll be learning new skills, and they can help your organization recognize new top talent. 

7. Recognize And Reward Your Top-Performing Employees 

Employee appreciation is essential to retaining your high performers. When you recognize their hard work and the value of their contributions, you make them feel appreciated and recognized. 

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A Forbes article states that at least 79% of employees that quit their jobs cite a lack of recognition as one of the main reasons for leaving.

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So, provide your top-performing employees with the perks and benefits they really want to keep them engaged and motivated.

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What To Avoid When Dealing With High Performers 

Here’s a list of things to avoid when dealing with high performers in your organization: 

• Don’t limit them. Top performers need the freedom to experiment and improve existing systems.

• Don’t ignore them. Their passion and innovative way of thinking can make it easier for the business to achieve its goals. 

• Avoid burning out your top performers. Give them the perks, benefits, and rest they deserve to stay at peak performance.

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When you listen to your high performers, suggest constructive improvements, and provide them with a balanced workload, they’ll look after your company and always do their best.

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Do You Have The Right Rewards To Retain Top Talent? 

Retaining the top talent in your company is essential if you want your organization to succeed. These rare gems can help your organization achieve its business goals. 

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As long as you offer the right rewards, it’ll be easy to retain your top talent.