According to the dictionary definition of gems, these are precious stones, which are cut and polished to be treated as high-value jewels. The same can be said about the employees in an organizational setup – while it is imperative for the HR department to hire high-potential employees, it’s equally critical to identify and mold them into high-performing employees. In most of the companies, managers play a significant role in discovering the gems since they are the one directly working with the employees.
So, what are some of the solid and sensible ways of pinpointing high-value performers? Read on to find out.
First, I’d like to highlight two things I’ve learned in my career:
- Professional success cannot be achieved with comfort.
- Talent and skills will only take you so far.
Small-scale cliff jump
This is our first tactic. We know that for the real business growth, there should be people who are willing to go the extra mile, much beyond the job description. Now, you don’t need to make people jump off the cliff to assess if they have what it takes to get things done. However, as a manager, you must understand from the very beginning the strong and weak points of those who report to you. The next step in assessment is to assign something in which they are not comfortable and gauge the reaction. Are they willing to take a leap of faith with confidence and do their research? If yes, ensure that the quality of output is in line with the expectation. Those who have ready-made excuses to avoid the task will never be accountable enough to take up new tasks in the future.
Note that the work must not be unreasonable (otherwise, it would simply be cliff jumping); it should be something that can be done with additional effort and in case of failure you should be there to guide. Depending on the person’s attitude and approach towards solving the problem or willingness to voluntarily owning difficult tasks, you should be able to understand if he or she will be able to take risks and do the extra bit to achieve the goals.
Collaborative marathon run
There are two facets of this pointer. The first part -- in business we need people who can deliver sustained effort directed towards long-term goals. There are highly skilled and expert employees in your team, but do they have the necessary grit to overcome the hurdles over a long time? That’s the reason you need to remain unfazed by the sprinters and spot the runners who are in it for long-term. Identify people who can not only come up with novel ideas or action items but also can execute the same consistently. Consistency is important because people who are accustomed to short-term plays might become complacent after 2 or 3 small successes and deviate from the actual path. However, those who are persistent and have deep-rooted targets will work towards achieving the long-term goals.
Here another important part is the collaborative approach since ultimately it is a team effort. An individual can never become higher than the team! The best performer might not be a good team player and worse, that person might have behavioral issues. This characteristic alone dampens the team morale and collectively reduces productivity. Hence, your goal is to find consistent performers who have the required empathy to gel with the team members via personal bonding instead of trying to establish superiority or causing friction.
Prepping for the win
If you have successfully identified the gems in your workplace based on the above-mentioned factors, half of the battle (and most difficult part) is won. Now your focus should be around retaining them and guiding towards the collective goal. This can be achieved via the following practices:
- Giving enough space to execute their ideas
- Empowering them to take certain important decisions
- Solid feedback loop must be in place to help them excel further
- Recognizing the contribution and rewarding the same appropriately
In essence, the objective here is to ensure that the team comprises of diligent workers and high-value performers while remaining cohesive enough to work towards a common long-term goal.
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- Small-Scale Cliff Jumps Can Help You Discover Gems At Workplace - July 14, 2018
