As a manager, you will need to utilize effective methods for motivating all of your workers. But perhaps the greatest challenge is finding ways to motivate your high-flying employees.
After all, high performers are a great asset to your company. If you do not take steps to keep them motivated, they could leave; and that could have a devastating effect on general performance and productivity.
You need to effectively nurture and engage your top talent to stop them from leaving. High-flyers are self-driven and goal orientated, so you need to do everything in your power to motivate and inspire them.
Thankfully, help is at hand. Check out the following five effective ways to motivate your top performers.
1. Allow Them to Be Independent
While allowing some employees to be independent might not do much at all to help them become more motivated, when you enable your high-flying employees to be more independent at work, you are sure to indirectly motivate them and help them feel happier in their roles.
In turn, they won’t be stressed and they will be more productive.The last thing high-performing employees want is to be micromanaged. So, ensure you only give helpful input as required and don’t interfere too much.
If you are an overtly controlling micromanager, you’ll end up doing the exact opposite of motivating your high-flyers. On the other hand, when you enable them to be more independent, they will respect you more and you will gain their loyalty.
2. Give Out Awards or Trophies
If you want to motivate your top talent, you need to think about rewarding them for going above and beyond the call of duty or achieving specific accomplishments.
You could give gifts, like chocolates or vouchers. But it is even better to hand out customizable awards and trophies to your top performers when they achieve great things. They are sure to feel proud and valued. They will also become more motivated to keep doing a good job.
Giving out recognition awards is a simple thing, but it can have a huge impact on the motivation of your high-flying workers.
3. Say Well Done
Look, this is really simple. But managers can often forget to do the simplest of things that really help their employees to be more motivated. When your high-performers do a task well, make sure you say “well done”.
As long as your employees know you mean it, you will soon motivate them and build their loyalty. In turn, they will be more receptive to other motivational methods.
4. Make Their Work Engaging and Challenging
If your high-flying employees are doing tasks that they get bored with or feel are beneath them, they will soon feel unhappy, uninspired, and unmotivated.
In turn, their productivity will suffer and they could end up leaving your company for a more fulfilling position. So, make sure your high-performers always have work that is engaging and challenging.
Giving them a challenge that stretches their knowledge and skills is sure to keep them engaged and focused. By carefully delegating projects and tasks to the right people, you can ensure you motivate your high-flying employees.
5. Hold One-on-one Meetings and Provide Opportunities
It is a great idea to hold regular one-on-one meetings with your high-performing employees. The meetings are your opportunity to encourage them in their roles and ask them if they have any issues.
You should also ask them what their ambitions are. High-flying employees will not want to be stuck in the same position for the rest of their lives, and you won’t want to lose them.
So, by talking about their dreams and expectations, you can help to guide them in the right direction, ensure they remain motivated and have opportunities to develop within your company.
That doesn’t necessarily mean all high-flying employees want promotions. Many will simply want more opportunities, such as being able to work in an international office or being able to enroll in a study program.
The more you listen and the more opportunities you can provide your high-performers with, the more you can ensure they stay happy and motivated.
