Compensation Cafe: How to Develop Consistent Performers

By Derek Irvine

Compensation Cafe logoRecognize This! – A combination of coaching and social recognition can help consistent performers to realize their potential and reach higher levels of performance.

It has become commonplace for businesses to differentiate between high performers, consistent performers, and those who need more development. A majority of programs tend to focus solely on high performers, as those who can bring the most value to the organization.

Effective organizations though also need to mobilize and develop the largest of these three groups: the consistent performers. As I write in this post on Compensation Cafe, a culture of reward and recognition can enable leaders to reach deeper into this group through smaller, more frequent moments. Doing so can motivate a greater proportion of that group, as well as keep the momentum of motivation high.

Another unique feature of this group is the variability across performance, owing in large part to the size of the group. Some individuals may be striving upwards, others content with the level of their effort, and still others for whom a change could derail their otherwise consistent showings. Taking these differences into account, two distinct strategies emerge that support a culture of recognition and performance.

As I write in the full post, they include the following:

Feedback or coaching conversations can be geared to help provide some insight … [empowering] employees to not only direct their own work, but also spend time thinking about the larger mission of the organization and how their work contributes to that.

The second strategy emphasizes building potential over time through social recognition. Each moment, where an employee has demonstrated a core value or contributed above and beyond to the team or colleagues, can be a launching point for a discussion about growth and expansion.

Taken together, these strategies can help a company develop its pool of consistent performers, delivering a collective impact that could rival that of the high performers.

What does your organization to do help develop those consistent performers?

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