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Who Else Wants to Retain and Motivate their Top Employees?

By: Daiv Russell

It appears deceptively simple, right? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule feels so undisputed that it should be a cure-all for all relationships. Simply behave toward everyone the way you would appreciate being treated and everything will run smooth as silk, right?

Just a minute... Something appears to be wrong...

Does your twenty-five year old top gun account rep aim for the exact same things out of their job that your forty-something billing clerk wants? Is your technical staff hoping for the same opportunities and reimbursement as your receptionist?

Indeed, their desires are quite different, though many managers apply a universal method when rewarding their key staff. Once a large project is done, everyone receives the same reward, whether you buy them breakfast or a gas card. Giving the same thing to the whole team is what's fair, right? But is it really fair for your team's best staff?

Hold On to Your Top Employees

Startlingly few business owners know that the Pareto theory lesson about their employees teaches that 2 out of 10 of their employees produce 80% of your entire team's success. Further, nearly every management book refers to studies which compare the productivity of the best staff to the least capable (yet still useful) staff. The gap between the top and bottom have been found to be as broad as 100 to 1. The nearest these ratios ever seem to get to one another is about 4:1. But how much more does this extraordinary difference in value end up costing?

Assuming that your annual salary for the company's least capable staff member is $30k, what are you paying your best staff? Since a decent amount of the costs for staff don't change, they don't go up in relation to base pay. For the intent of this examination, let's use some worst-case , $60k. Assuming that your $30k person delivers $30k of value (otherwise you'd let them go, right?). If your best employee is a measly four times as productive as the worst, they deliver far more value for how much more they cost.

If you pays for more training for your low-end members, costs immediately go up, but without any assurance that productivity will likewise go up. Think about how much of your salary is factored into the "cost" of this moderately competent employee? Probably none. Management costs are usually invisible, factored away as overhead. It certainly feels like you're being productive - trying your hardest to bring along the strugglers, hoping that they eventually rise above their shortcomings. Consider how much of your time is spent with either of these employees:
  • The self-managing dynamo who, with speed of a bullet train, handles customer complaints, delivers defect-free results, and even cleans up after himself in the break room

  • The new guy who has some interpersonal issues, occasional product defects, difficulty listening to reason, and shows up late to work because of an occasional hangover



Indeed your best performers are worth their salt. As such, it's incredibly important for every small business owner to keep their best, as this handful of hotshots embodies 80% of your team's value. Their familiarity with your unique systems combined with their skills and ability to get the job done in a pinch makes them practically priceless.

So, what's the most effective way to show appreciation for your best people? What should you do to show those high performers that they're wanted, and boost the chance that they'll stay with you?

What's the most effective method for motivating your best people?

Show them the money. If your $30k staffer devotes himself to 100-hour weeks during the home stretch of a key effort, most pure cash rewards would come in at a rate less than minimum wage. Simply reconsider this alternative. This can be extremely insulting, seen, instead, as a half-hearted attempt to buy them off and ease a boss' guilty conscience. Regardless, after the taxman gets his share, the ultimate impact of this cash may be far less than it costs to give it out.

Send them to extra training. Some people might be thrilled to get a chance to attend a conference in a new city on the company dime. They may even like to spend the week before or after, on their own, just to cash in on this chance to rest up. Be careful though, this could appear to your high achiever that you thought their efforts lacking. They might wrongly believe that they have to have additional training to be worthy of the more desirable reward that they hope to get. If your worker is sensitive, they might get upset that their effort they exerted was a red flag to you that they were not so doing well at their job. Offering a training award in this situation could be interpreted that their difficulty was apparent to you, and now you are taking remedial action.

Offer a promotion. Though the attraction of a notable title or tangible gains associated with a promotion may inspire some, more and more workers have come to recognize the risks of the Peter Principle. They fear that their work lives will change a great deal when they become manager. Your superstar staff probably like what they're doing right now. That's why they're so incredibly skilled at it. Before considering a promotion as praise, make sure that the new role honest leverages the skills and capabilities of these high achievers, or you may end up having to replace them. If you think it's best to risk it, ensure your hotshot realizes that they can get their old job again if something doesn't work out in the newly promoted role.

Give more holiday time. Everybody likes to get away, right? Unfortunately, if you offer this reward to a very committed person who is so completely dedicated to their occupation that they do little else outside of the workplace, they may not know what to do during all of this leisure time.

Do unto others as they would have done unto them.

As you can see, there are quite a few methods to reward your best. It's easy to be tempted to offer each of your workers the same reward. It's especially dangerous to offer them something you'd like yourself.

These examinations reinforce a very simple process: communication. In a nutshell, ask your shining stars what they really would like. What could you give them that will allow them to actually understand that they are appreciated? The path that causes a person to become an excellent salesperson is quite distinct than the path of a great administrative assistant. You may be stunned by the replies you get back. If truth be told, your staff may be surprised, as well, to discover that you are listening to their ideas to determine the award for their hard work.

  • Do they want money?

  • Do they want more challenging assignments?

  • Do they want some relaxation time to appreciate their children?

  • Would they rather have more mentoring?

  • Do they merely want to be acknowledged at a company function?

  • What rewards have they received in the past that really made them feel appreciated?


The results can differ considerably for each person, depending upon their long-term goals, how their desires at this time are being met within Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the current difficulties in their life. Don't make the blunder of assuming that the answer you hear now will hold true throughout your high performer's career.

At the end of the day, as opposed to attempting to reward your staff the way you would like to be rewarded, break The Golden Rule, and invest your time actually understanding their needs and wants. By involving them in choices that affect their lives so immediately, you might unintentionally cash in on the Hawthorn Effect, and inspire your people by showing you care. You will probably find that you've produced a work environment that makes your high achievers happier than they've ever been. Accordingly, they will uncover methods to push themselves to new levels of productivity, understanding that their pains will result in rewards that are actually important to them. You may even earn their respect and commitment for a lifetime.

Article Source: http://www.purearticle.com

More information about... The 80/20 rule the Peter Principle Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Daiv Russell is a small business management consultant with Envision Engineering.

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