Management Strategies to Encourage Star Employees
Staffing Stream
Management Strategies to Encourage Star Employees
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Many companies start the recruitment process with the intention of finding innovative and talented candidates. This is an important goal, and many talent acquisition professionals fulfill it daily. However, how such employees are managed after being hired determines how useful they are to the company - and whether they will stay on for long. Employees who have the skill set to contribute meaningful value to a company can be difficult to retain unless they’re managed successfully. Here are some tips for doing exactly that:
Keep an eye out for extra skills. Some employees may fit well in their current roles but also have the capacity to go beyond them. Talent management professionals should closely monitor employees to determine whether they may be more productive in another role, whether in a managerial capacity or in a different department altogether. Being flexible about where a star employee works within the company can bring many benefits. Someone who is adequate in their current role but who has the potential to create value for the company elsewhere should be encouraged to do so. Of course, this may also mean changes in compensation and benefits, so it should be a carefully considered move with all the routine HR bases covered.
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Allow side projects. Google’s famous 20 percent time, which was given to employees to pursue projects that interested them, yielded many of the company’s most impressive products and services. Giving smart employees room to innovate on behalf of the company can pay off. If a worker completes his or her tasks regularly, it may be worthwhile to allot extra time for personal projects rather than additional busywork. It should be made clear that this time is to be used in eventual service of the company, but the projects can be flexible within that rubric. An employee might choose to revamp a company’s social media strategy, or come up with a product that ends up being very profitable. It is important to give innovators room to do their best in exactly that area. To do otherwise represents management that wastes valuable potential.
As with all management strategies, it’s important to ask for and consider feedback from star employees. They may have ideas that can help the entire department or company, or they may simply need to work in a slightly different way than they’re given the opportunity to do on a regular basis. When companies hire top talent, listening to them and helping them get what they need pays off.