How do you manage your top performers differently?

Question

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

What I have noticed consistently about top performs in my teams is that they
have a greater sense of ownership. They are also more passionate about the
problem at hand. What I find helpful to keep this fire lit is to give them more
space with the assurance of a safety net. I have this one highly motivated
person on my current team. She thrives on creative problem solving. I let her
work with our stakeholders directly with periodic check-ins to see if she needs
any support or discuss the plan she is building. I also check in with my
stakeholders to make sure, work is moving along and they are happy. If all goes
well, I let her run things on her own. At the end of major milestones, I will
ask her to do a demo or presentation on her project. This has a two-fold
benefit: Firstly, she is building her brand as being a business problem solver
and secondly, it holds the rest of the team to a higher standard that they see
in action. I've seen a few junior or newer team mates take on more ownership
having seen her set an example.

Anonymous · Answer

In my Last few roles when i was leading/managing multiple project, i observed
one thing about high performer they need complex problems, ownership and freedom
to implement approaches which seems impossible.
As a manager, i have to ensure top performers are getting challenging work which
keeps them motivated and also helps project to deliver new innovative ideas. In
my managing style, i always categorize my team in multiple types, leaders,
followers, challengers (top performers). I assign all complex and challenging
work to top performers and frequently check with them if they are enjoying work
and require any changes in case of feeling overwhelmed.
As a result top performers feel competitive and learn new things which keeps
them happy and ahead in their field and this helps project to deliver complex
work.

Anonymous · Answer

Managing top performers is a very important work an EM needs to do.
The first thing I do is keeping the high performer motivated. I would have
conversations around their career goals, what motivates them, what challenges
they want to tackle and etc during our 1:1s. Based on those, I will make plans
and assign the high performer to the right projects so they can get challenged ,
pushing them to grow more and make bigger impact while staying motivated.
The next thing I would do is making sure their work is being recognized. I will
try to recognize their work publicly within the team, to stakeholders and
leaderships. While this is something I actually do for everyone, I will
especially make sure their works are being recognized and called out by
stakeholders and leaderships.
One last thing I would do is making sure the high performer is not getting
burned out. High performers cannot just keep high performing 100% of the time. I
keep my eyes on their projects, their performances, and make sure to remind them
manage their time and don't let them selves to burn out.

How do you manage your top performers differently?

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