High performers stand out from others by consistently exceeding expectations. They become the go-to for difficult projects because they have a track record of getting the job done. It can be easy to allow other items to take priority, but even the best performers need support and supervision from their manager. It is important that you devote time and energy to this group of employees to help ensure growth, reduce burnout and retain these high performers. Below are some tactics for managing high performers that can make a big difference in turning potential into productivity. 

• Provide clear expectations  
  High performers want clear but also ambitious goals. They want to know as they start a project, a sprint or a quarter how their performance will be judged and what “success” looks like. And they want objectives to stretch them a little bit. At the same time, this applies to more than just performance. Ambitious performance objectives are great, but it’s also important to be clear about what the expectations are for supporting the team or for conducting themselves with clients.  

• Give them special projects   
  You may want to approach how you delegate new work and projects differently. For example, inform all of your staff members about the new project or opportunity and share these details at the same time. Then allow the staff members to express their interest and capacity for the new work. This will also allow your high performers to contribute in ways that will keep them engaged. 

• Offer autonomy  
  Autonomy is the sense that high performers have freedom to determine what to work on and also how, when and where to work on it. Autonomy is one of the most powerful drivers of motivation at work. If you’ve been in a leadership role for a while, and a high-performing individual contributor has been doing their role for a while, then the chances are they know what works best and what methods are outdated. So, giving autonomy may be the best way to avoid micromanaging while also motivating high performers. 

• Provide flexibility in how they work  
  Allowing flexibility can come in different forms. Offering a remote or hybrid environment is one option. But allowing flexibility in how the work gets done can also be beneficial when managing a high performer. 

• Talk development frequently and give feedback regularly 
  Most employees want to know they’re making progress on projects, but also how they are growing and progressing in their careers. High performers have much higher expectations. Effective leaders understand this and engage high performers in consistent conversations about growth and development, and then use those conversations to find new, challenging work even in their current role. An annual review just doesn’t cut for most people, and especially most high performers. Effective leaders know they need to engage in much more frequent check-in conversations.  

• Encourage them to decompress  
  High performers will continue to work until they are burnt out. It is important as the leader to keep a pulse on the wellbeing of the high performer. Encourage them to use their PTO and take time for themselves. Check-in on their workload and help them to keep a work/life balance. It is also important for you to do your share by avoiding sending late-night, weekend or holiday emails. The high performer will most likely feel the need to read and respond.

Middle Performers make up the majority of an organization's workforce. A middle performer can be described as an employee who meets the expectations of their role, understands and knows the job well, and is likely promotable. 

Set Expectations and Goals 

• It is important to take time to conduct a meeting to clarify expectations on both ends (employee and leader). If you do not already know, use this time to understand their values and motivations.
  • Setting Expectations: Formalizing these standards should be an open and fluid conversation between managers and employees. 
  • Communication: Schedule weekly or daily check-ins. You can work with the employee to understand their preferences and manage them appropriately. 
    • Do not assume "no news is good news." A lack of regular communication can lead to confusion when it comes to how a staff member is performing, for you and for them. 
    • Choose the best tool to communicate. While sending an IM is quick and easy, it does not include the nuances of spoken communication that ensure both good and bad messages are being received correctly. 
    • If someone is struggling with effectively using a collaboration tool, share free training and tips to help them learn. 

Goal Setting  

• There are many resources available to managers to help them create realistic and productive work plans with employees so that both parties focus on achieving goals rather than putting in time. By shifting the focus to outcomes, the manager and employee can focus on accomplishments and getting the work done, as opposed to focusing on time in the unit. 
• Make sure to be specific when giving praise and constructive feedback. Saying, "Good job," is appropriate in some cases, but providing specific details will have more meaning and show the staff member what they can continue to do to be successful. 

Build Trust 

• Manage outcomes instead of face time. 
• Allow employees the opportunity to determine how to accomplish a goal themselves. 
• Make sure to have two-way communication and be transparent. 
• Remain calm when reacting to situations both when responding verbally or through written communication.  
• Recognize and respect the unique differences of team members and respect them as a "whole person." 
• Demonstrate you care about the staff members as people by asking how they are doing and things that matter to them personally. 
• Give staff the benefit of the doubt and trust that every staff member is working to the best of their ability. 
• When you make a mistake, apologize and indicate what you will do differently next time. 

Keep Connected 

• Make sure the remote employees know that while they are "out of sight," they are not "out of mind." 
• Meet individually with direct reports regularly. Use this time to understand how they are doing, discuss workload, goals and deliverables and remind them of self-care. 
• Routine updates can be shared asynchronously through email or instant messengers.

Vanderbilt University aims for excellence in all its operations and the employment experience it provides.  

Expectations for timely completion of work, meeting attendance (remote or in person), responsiveness and other performance criteria are essential. Departments are expected to apply the same performance standards to staff members, regardless of work location, in accordance with Vanderbilt’s performance management process.  

Measuring Success  

Successful leaders manage productivity by setting goals and deadlines, making sure that deliverables are clearly defined and providing consistent feedback. When measuring performance, they determine if the quantity, quality and timeliness of work has been maintained, enhanced or diminished.  

How to Discuss and Manage Performance   

• If there are performance concerns, the manager should discuss the concerns with the employee to make them aware and allow for two-way communication to understand what may be causing any performance issues.  
• Determine the reason for the performance issue.  
• If performance is not meeting expectations, provide feedback and coaching to allow the employee the opportunity to improve.  
• If performance is still not meeting expectations after coaching has been provided, or if the severity of the performance issues may warrant moving to the next step in the performance management process, a Written Performance Accountability and Commitment Plan (PACP) may be needed.  
• Contact your HR Consultant if you want to take any action beyond coaching to address performance. Your HR Consultant can work with you to help determine appropriate actions to be taken based on the circumstances involved. 
• For more information on Vanderbilt’s performance management process, please contact your HR Consultant or refer to Vanderbilt’s Performance Accountability and Commitment policy: https://hr.vanderbilt.edu/policies/performance-accountability-commitment.php 

When you have a staff member who is ready for a promotion– or even just for bigger projects or responsibilities– and there are none available, how do you keep them engaged? There are many ways to grow people that do not require a promotion or financial bonus. Any of the ideas below can help you tap into powerful motivation that can boost morale and motivate your team members. 

1. Consider lateral moves
Moving up in a new role is not the only way people can grow.  A change in responsibility or role can be just as refreshing and motivating. When someone on your team starts to look restless or bored in their current role, talk to them about what areas are interesting to them. Look for signs of areas they want to learn more about to find opportunities for lateral moves. 
 

2. Focus on skills growth 
Can't promote someone right now?  Focus on improving their skills. Take a hard look at each of your team member's skills and work with them on ones they can improve. If you can tie it to a future opportunity they're interested in, or an area they're passionate about, all the better. 

There are a variety of ways you can help people develop their skills. 

• Buying a book for a team member to build their skills  
• Introduce them to a mentor 
• Connect them to peers  
• Send them to a meetup or conference 
• Get them on the right project 

3. Leverage your one on ones 

Your one-on-ones are the perfect time to work with them on skills, growth and employee development. You can first use a meeting to talk about areas you think they can improve and what they're interested in. Then, subsequent one on ones can include checking-in on them, and giving feedback on how they're doing. 

4. Ask the right questions to uncover growth ideas for employees 

If you really want to understand your team members and how they want to go, you need to ask the right questions. Here are some examples: 

• What are your long-term goals? Have you thought about them? 
• What skills would you like to develop right now? 
• What additional training or education would you like? 
• Are there any roles in the company you'd like to learn more about? 
• Is there anything I can do to help you improve in x, y, z? 
• Is there anything blocking your progress? 

Talking about growth allows you to bring up and influence something that truly matters to them. It’s the perfect way to prevent people from drifting away from the university. 

5. Tap into their passion 

As your team grows, there are small habits and processes that can become clunky. Maybe it was the best you could do initially, or a hack because you were just trying to move fast. The longer you work, the more of these challenges there are. When you're looking for ways to develop your employees, an underrated approach is to look at these problems. 

The next time you hear someone complain about a broken process or inefficient system, see if they'd be willing to take it on as a project. This can be a huge win-win: 

• Channel their passion: If they're fired up enough to complain about it, they are probably also motivated to do something about it. 
• Enhance their resume: If they're successful in improving the system, you should be able to measure the results. This can become an awesome selling point for a future promotion.
• Relieve stress: When it's something that drives them crazy every day, finally getting to fix it can be a big stress relief for them. Anyone else affected will also be happy to see the change or improvement. 

Staff tips on how to discuss career development or disagreement on performance (future) 

When you have a staff member who’s pushing hard for a promotion  or even just for bigger projects or responsibilities – and you’re convinced they’re not ready, how can you manage the situation without demotivating them?  

• Be Honest, candid and kind. Honesty is the most effective strategy as well as the kindest thing that you can do for a staff member in this position. Don’t give into the temptation to shade the truth. Doing so would be a disservice to your employee, department and the university. It might feel like an easier message to deliver, but not providing the real reasons you didn’t promote your staff member isn’t helping anyone. But make no mistake, it is your job to deliver the message.  
• Confirm the value of the employee. Most likely your employee will feel unappreciated and that their strengths and value is going unrecognized. Give specific examples of the contributions the staff member has made and will continue to make, and what value the person brings. 
• Outline what a path to promotion would look like. What would the employee need to accomplish or master to be in a stronger position for promotion in the future? Examples could be taking classes, developing skills, cultivating relationships or changing behaviors.  
• Explore how you can help. Are there projects or playing a different role with clients that would provide the needed experience? 
• Manage expectations. If the truth is that there really isn’t much of a path to promotion for the person, you want to be honest about that, too. It’s better for people to know that than to have false hope, and they’re more likely to end up resentful if they keep thinking a promotion is just around the corner but it never happens. 
• High performers who are not ready for promotion. Particularly challenging are the employees who are doing really well in their current role. Consistent positive feedback and performance ratings create the expectation that they are ready for a promotion. They may be doing a really awesome job checking all the boxes of their current role, but delivering consistent results reliably does not automatically qualify them to handle challenges of the next level.

Supporting Employees in Prioritizing Career Development 

• What is career development? 
  • Career development is the ongoing acquisition or refinement of skills and knowledge, including job mastery and professional development, coupled with career planning activities. Although the primary responsibility for employees’ development rests with them, the manager has an important role in encouraging, supporting, removing obstacles and providing resources for employee development. 
• Why is career development important? 
  • Career development provides opportunities that can be mutually beneficial for both employees and employers. Supporting the growth and development of your staff is vitally important to helping them be as productive and successful as possible in their current role, encouraging motivation and retention and setting them up for future career opportunities. Managers are in a key position to provide valuable feedback, learning activities and resources.
    Career development can also: 
  • Create a greater sense of responsibility for managing one’s own career and, therefore, contribute to self-confidence. 
  • Create cost-effective opportunities within your department by using your own staff talent to provide career development. 
  • Increase employee motivation and productivity. 
• How can you support your employees? 
  • As a manager, you are responsible for developing people, which includes developing talent in your direct reports. In the "Managing Employee Development" Oracle Learn course (OLC963024), you'll learn about the benefits of developing employees and assessing how their development needs can be addressed through organizational learning. You'll then learn how to prepare for and conduct a development meeting that includes the necessary development plan characteristics and support for your employees. Additional ways to support your employees include: 
    • Help employees identify strengths, weaknesses, interests and values by maintaining open, effective communication and outgoing encouragement. 
    • Help employees develop realistic career goals based on your department’s needs and the employee’s individual development plans. 
    • Help by providing frequent feedback in a way that fosters development. 
    • Provide current information about the university and future trends so employees can create more realistic career development goals. 

Taking an Active Role in Employees’ Career Management 

• Why take part in your direct report’s career management? 
  • Managers can be key to an employee’s career management process. Taking an interest in your direct report’s professional life can encourage a positive and uplifting relationship. That relationship can, in turn, positively influence the employee’s perception of their work, inspiring them to take it more seriously and invest more in the job. In addition, you may learn about skills or aspirations of your direct report that will help you with current and upcoming projects. By simply asking about their goals and aspirations, you can align their goals with yours. 

Managing Direct Reports When Supporting Career Development 

• Be clear about expectations 
  • Make sure to discuss with your direct reports that while you will encourage and help them to seek out new experiences, you expect them to keep up with their current responsibilities and deadlines first. This is also a good time to go over the goals of the university so that your direct report(s) can keep that in mind as they start their career management process. 
• Be flexible 
  • Working with direct reports to create time for career development can show them that you are supportive of their career aspirations. Be open to allowing them to participate in training, especially if the training can benefit your department in the short term. You could also allow task swapping between direct reports, which can show trust and create a more willing and knowledgeable team. 
• Stay in contact and up-to-date with them 
  • Research shows that goals with periodic check-ins are more effective and make more of an impact than one-time pep talks. Touching base periodically with your direct reports can open the door for questions and advice. It’s also another way to simply show that you care about seeing your direct reports develop. All in all, you have a higher chance of making sure that the goals you’ve set are achieved when you check in on occasion. 
• Document. Document. Document. 
  • Memorizing most of your direct reports’ individual career management plans is almost certainly an overwhelming task. Do yourself a favor and take notes on what you discuss. 

Feed Forward: 

• Effective 1:1 Tips   
• Envision the Desired Outcome for Leaders 
• Explain the Vision 
• Kickoff Discussion for Leaders  
• Quarterly Employee Check-In 

Leader Central: 

• Performance Communications and Management  
• Top Tips Performance Evaluations 

Vanderbilt HR Tools and Forms: 

• Leadership Model  
• Evaluation Form