The Leading Edge - Winter 2009 - (Page 5)

cover Enable star performers to reach for success and longevity By ann M. gynn I f the Pareto Theory applies to the workplace, then 80 percent of the organization’s results come from 20 percent of the employees. Since many experts note that star contributors are more likely to depart than average or poor-performing employees, the impact on companies can be big. “High-impact workers are often more susceptible to being poached by a competitor in a downturn,” warns Ed Boswell, CEO of The Forum Corp., whose clients include Fortune 1000 businesses. Ron Price, an expert in workplace behavior, says most top performers leave because they see their company as being an obstacle to their continued growth instead of a catalyst. Just given the bottom line impact of departing employees—$3,500 for a minimum wage hourly worker to 400 percent of a top executive’s salary—having a star-performerretention strategy makes sense all around. “Companies that want to hold on to their top performers should start asking questions 12 to 18 months ahead of job tenure thresholds— two, five, 10 and 15 years—to make sure they understand why a top performer would consider making a change,” says Price, founder and CEO of Price Associates. Drew Stevens, an organizational development specialist, says organizations need to make sure they focus on the best practices of top performers. In his doctoral research, 92 percent of firms seeking assistance for employee performance issues failed to do that. He tells of one organization that sought assistance for an employee performance issue—a sales representative who never left the office but was the top producer. Management wanted help because it was concerned he was always in the office. Yet, Stevens says, if management had focused on the best practice approach, it would not have been concerned, especially given that other sales representatives were out of the office 88 percent of the time but only achieved 60 percent of their quota. give reaSonS Price offers three reasons why top performers stay with a company: • Competitive, performance-based compensation (and that’s not just money) • Meaningful work that stretches them professionally (they love to achieve) • Supportive relationships (they need to feel valued as human beings in addition to being recognized for performance) “There’s no reason why everyone in a company can’t be rewarded this way in proportion to their roles, responsibilities and results,” Price says. “When this is systemized in a company, the underperformers decide to leave on their own and the average performers find a level of contribution that, while not making them a superstar, provides good employment and stability for the company. And the top performers see the sky as the limit.” Price explains that keeping the stars without alienating the rest of the employees is doable. When alienation does happen, it’s because a company emphasizes one area over another, such as excessive compensation, or follows narrow definitions of what a top performer is so all contribution areas and corporate values are not recognized. ThE LEadIng EdgE 5

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leading Edge - Winter 2009

The Leading Edge - Winter 2009 Contents Stay on the Climb New Business Often Hinges on an Exceptional Proposal 2009: What’s Ahead and What's Behind for Businesses, Consumers and More Top 10 Misconceptions of Doing Business in Canada In a Nutshell: Q&A The Leading Edge Alliance

The Leading Edge - Winter 2009

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