How to Keep Your Best People

Identify Them

We often take good performance for granted. Also, a large number of organizations pile work on their best performers without recognizing their worth, while those who are good at either self-promotion or flattery get the best deals.

The first step for the success of any organization is to identify its best workers in terms of reliability, creativity, performance and speed. Focus on the end product and see the contribution of each employee towards achieving the target.

Pamper Them

Once you have identified your star performers, the next challenge is to retain them. In this, increments play the strongest role.

Don’t spread your increments evenly across the board. If an average worker gets the same percentage of increment as a top performer, it will not only lead to de-motivation in your best employees, but will also send the message across that one doesn’t really needs to do one’s best to deserve increments.

Accept Opposition

You may not always be in the right. Allow your top performers the right of constructive criticism. Involve them in the company’s decisions. If you want them to stay, you have to make them feel wanted and part of the group.

Conduct Exit Interviews

Many organizations lose their best workers without knowing why. Apart from soul-searching on the part of the management, it is good to have a non-confrontational exit interview to find out what is lacking in your organization. Even when the reasons are simple, such as getting a much higher pay-packet elsewhere, it is beneficial to ask your employees what they thought of the company’s management policies and how it can be improved. At this time, most employees are likely to be more honest.