HOW TO MOTIVATE A TOP PERFORMER – WHEN YOU CANNOT PROMOTE THEM
A recent survey found the number one reason for voluntary employee departures is a lack of career mobility but organisations can’t promote everyone; there will always be high-performing employees who want to get promoted in situations.
What should managers do to help employees with unmet desires for promotion?
First, even if an employee is a top performer, there may be certain skills or performance deficits that are holding them back from a desired promotion. If there are ways the employee can address and remedy these skill or experience gaps, talk with them and share your thoughts. Give them time to process your feedback on ways to improve, and make it clear in your conversation that there is nothing wrong with a desire for promotion.
Then start digging into what a promotion actually means to them. It could be some combination of the following, or something completely different:
Workplace status – help them have more impact with clients and stakeholders. Are there meetings the employee can join to help them learn what’s on leaders’ minds or further steer the direction of a project?
Occupational status – Can the employee apply or be nominated for professional awards?
A public form of reward / recognition – are there opportunities to position the employee’s work to be more visible and celebrated or have their contributions called out in public communication channels?
A greater scope of responsibilities – are there opportunities to give them increased exposure to managerial activities?
A greater scope of influence within the department or organisation – are there opportunities to lead hiring for the team or coaching more junior employees?
A perceived opportunity for greater impact on broader outcomes – can they lead your support of local charities or worthy causes?
An opportunity to manage direct reports – can appoint the employee as an informal lead of the team before they are officially promoted to a people manager?
Better monetary rewards – higher pay may be the primary motivator for many employees. To the extent that your organisation’s compensation planning allows for manager discretion, consider allocating more significant monetary rewards for high performers who have been passed up for promotion.
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