The curse of the high performer

Devika worked hard every year. Received a 'meets expectation' rating twice and an 'exceeds expectation' once. She also won an award twice for demonstrating efficiency. But there's something missing. She looks around and realises that there are some who are valued more than her. She sees them get the pick of jobs, assignments and other developmental inputs. She sees them being mentored, coached and sponsored.

She wonders why it's not her. She wonders if someone will talk to her and she wishes someone would explain to her exactly what it would take for her to be a member of "that Club". But no one does. She decides to strive harder, puts her head down against the wind and moves forward with a stronger resolve, committed to making it the next year. And when she doesn't she is none the wiser.

Organisations have woken up to the importance of talent. Companies big or small, old or new are putting processes in place to identify, engage and develop talented employees. However, the definition of talent now needs to be reconsidered.

Organisations largely define talent as individuals who have future leadership potential. But it creates a conundrum: What do we do with the high performer? That steady, dependable individual who meets expectations year-on-year and consistently delivers results.

If we were to look at percentages most organisations would rank individuals into 20 per cent, 50 per cent, 15 per cent and bottom 15 per cent.

Which means that 50 per cent of the population consists of high performers. And all of them experience an attention deficit similar to Devika. What is the potential impact of such a selection bias? Disengagement? Certainly. Attrition? Quite often.

Loss of organisational productivity? What do you think?

This means that attrition and disengagement are going to impact the largest and most important demographic of your organisation but there is no strategy to address this issue. It is time organisations and the leadership community put on their thinking hats and find solutions for how to address the development needs of these Steady-Eddies.

Some suggestions:

• Clearly differentiate between high-potential employees (HiPos) and high performers in a manner that the individuals know what is being measured.
• Give a chance to the high performers to develop their skills and move into HiPo pool.
• Have developmental and career conversations with high performers so they can see that they are valued and have a future in the organisation.
• While HiPos would experience significant vertical growth, high performers would benefit from broad-basing their skills.

It is time the high performers are respected and engaged by the organisation. The organisations that achieve this will have a competitive advantage over the others.

The author is Gurprriet Siingh, country head, YSC India. Re-printed with permission.

Link: http://joyandlife.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/the-curse-of-the-high-performer/