This translation, entitled The top 5% who can change your company , introduces the benefits that star-rated employees can bring to the company, and also introduces methods to identify, train and retain star-rated employees.
They are regarded as the most capable, motivated, and most potential group in the company to be promoted to positions with more responsibilities and more power.
Although the contributions of everyone in the team are valuable, usually, the impact of star employees on innovation, execution, and achievement is very huge.
According to the Harvard Business Review article, the Pareto principle (also known as the 28th law, that is, 80% of the results are caused by 20% of the reasons) also applies to star employees.
The study found that in different industries, organizations and even specific tasks, a small group of people play a decisive role in the final result:
10% of the company’s results come from the best 1% of employees;
25% of the company’s results come from the best 5% of employees;
80% of business results come from the best 20% of employees.
I also found a similar phenomenon in my own company.
Every employee works very hard, but only a few employees dominate. Sometimes their achievements can amaze you and at the same time show outstanding leadership skills.
In general, star employees play a key role in the development of an enterprise. Therefore, for the long-term interests of the enterprise, it is also necessary to understand how to identify, train and retain star employees.
Five outstanding qualities of star employees
Before distinguishing star employees, we must first confirm the definition of “star”. Each company may have a very different definition of “star”, but according to my experience, they mainly have five outstanding qualities:
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good attitude
Star employees have a growth mentality, so they will not always be affected by negative things or adverse situations. Their goals are clear, and they have been moving forward towards their goals.
They will also respond positively to the feedback given to them.
For example, when they are criticized for not doing a good job, they will analyze the problem carefully and actively look for new solutions. Therefore, they often bring more unexpected solutions.
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Unique skills and abilities
Skills and talents are different. Some people may be good at drawing by nature, but it takes a lot of time and unremitting efforts to master a certain skill.
In addition, star employees can keep a low profile and continuously improve their abilities based on a growth mentality.
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Confidence in pursuit of excellence
Star employees have the courage to challenge and set higher goals for themselves.
Even if they may not be able to achieve goals based on their current experience or skills, they will not give up pursuing higher goals, but focus on achieving them.
This is not to say that star employees will not fail. We all experience failure. But more importantly, they are unwilling to be discouraged in the face of failure, and have the courage to face and explore.
I tried to observe their performance carefully, and most of the content they focused on was aspects that no one else had even considered.
The important thing is not whether they will succeed or not, but it is already full of joy to see them realize their potential as much as possible.
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Exploring potential and pursuing growth momentum
Talent is just a good start, and more importantly, inner motivation. Star employees have the inner motivation to explore and discover.
According to the Harvard Business Review article, motivation is the individual’s willingness and motivation to work hard, find ways to accomplish goals and accomplish a career.
Motivation can also be understood as work ambition, the ability to remain dissatisfied with personal performance.
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Excellent communication skills
Excellent communicators, whether introverted or extroverted, can effectively present their ideas and solve problems together on the basis of understanding others and cooperation.
They have clear goals and will not allow any potential misunderstandings to persist.
Communication and social skills are closely related. According to the Harvard Business Review article, communication requires two basic skills:
First, the ability to manage oneself and others (relationships).
If you want to be competent for more complex positions, you must first learn to manage yourself-learn to deal with sudden increases in pressure, learn to grow in adversity, and maintain good behavior.
Secondly, establish and maintain a good working relationship.
Expand a wider interpersonal network, form alliances, and be able to show unique influence and persuasiveness in front of different stakeholders.
How to identify star employees
In order to train star employees, many companies have a High Potential Talent Development Project (HIPO). However, research has found that managers often fall into the dilemma of identifying the true leader.
In a study of about 2,000 high-potential talents in three companies, Zenger and Folkman found that 12% of them ranked in the bottom 25% in terms of outstanding leadership assessment.
On the whole, 42% of high-potential talents are ranked below average.
The results of this study are far from the claim that high-potential personnel are the best 5% of employees. But in many ways, the findings of this study also make sense.
If you want to determine in the interview whether a candidate has a growth mindset or sufficient motivation, this is not easy.
In many cases, it is necessary to give employees a certain amount of time to show their true potential, or to confirm whether they are the talents the company really wants.
There is actually no standard answer to the question of how to identify star-rated employees, but it is true that so-called star-rated employees can be distinguished from certain aspects.
- Internships within our company can help us discover highly productive employees
Every year, we receive thousands of job applications, but we only select 50 qualified candidates from them. They can better understand their potential through internships before they join the company full-time.
Many excellent team members are outstanding in the internship program.
- We recruit inexperienced employees and only arrange them in positions related to product support and maintenance
They can learn about the company and products in this process, and we can also observe their teamwork ability. When they gradually grow and progress, we usually arrange them to higher-level positions.
During the internship, employees also have the opportunity to show themselves. It is also very interesting to observe their problem solving process, you can even see who is trying to challenge the limit.
- We will observe their growth, high potential talents are always improving themselves
They will humbly accept feedback, use it thoughtfully and improve it, and finally strive for improvement.Steady progress is a very important sign.
How to train and retain star employees
The method of training and retaining star employees is similar, because high-potential talents are always eager to grow.
So, if you empower them to accomplish their goals and let them find a sense of autonomy, they will naturally be willing to stay in the company and continue to develop.
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Make work more challenging
Star-rated employees will improve even more under the challenge. In my experience, this sentence applies to all employees, despite differences in personality, role, talent, or age.
Therefore, even if employees do not have the skills they should have when facing challenges, as they grow, they always have the opportunity to successfully meet the challenges.
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Don’t bother big and small
For high-potential talents, there is nothing more sad than the big and small things.
As mentioned in the previous article, star employees are usually self-motivating talents, so they must be given a certain degree of autonomy to allow them to come up with more creative solutions.
At the same time, they also need to make them feel that someone is watching their growth.
As far as I am concerned, I will continue to give feedback and encouragement. At the same time, I will give them a certain amount of space for them to perform and complete a task independently.
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The more the merrier
Excellent employees are willing to work with other excellent colleagues. This kind of aggregation is superimposed on high-quality teams, which will produce better teams and benefit everyone in the team.
After all, excellent results are rarely the result of a single person working alone.
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Willing to spend money on education expenditure items such as training courses
In the case of tight budgets, many companies may choose to cut off learning or education-related expenses.
However, investing in star employees and getting them to participate in education such as training is considered an investment for the company-from a long-term perspective, it will benefit the company and individuals a lot.
A colleague once suggested to me that all star-rated employees should sign an agreement with the company and promise that if they decide to leave, they need to return the training costs invested by the company to the company (some training programs are as high as thousands of dollars. ).
I think this approach is inappropriate and is contrary to the company culture.
As Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, said:
For the company, the worst thing is not training employees and allowing them to resign. The only worst thing is that the company not only does not train employees, but also allows them to stay in the company.
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Recognize aspiring volunteers
I like to see someone stand up and offer to complete a certain job. In this case, it is usually because they have the self-confidence and the ability to do the job well.
These active volunteers are full of growth mentality, clearly define their goals, and look forward to coping with challenges and mastering new skills. In any case, we must give them the opportunity to play.
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Organize hacker week within the company
Hacker Week is a week when internal employees burst out their whims and realize their ideas. During Hacker Week, the product team puts daily tasks aside and focuses on solving a problem or completing a challenge.
Such cyclical periods can often generate new ideas, and star employees can often be more engaged during this period.
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Let everyone find their place
Sometimes, we think that certain employees have potential, but their performance is always unsatisfactory.
When encountering such a situation, don’t give them up easily, but adjust their positions so that he can find a position that suits him, so that he has a real chance to succeed.
What benefits can star personnel bring to the company
All leaders hope that all employees can make continuous progress. This is a goal worth striving for.
I never wanted to belittle the contribution of any employee in the past, nor did I intend to underestimate its potential.
