As a company, one of your goals is to retain your employees and reduce turnover. It is a task for the company to keep their top performers year on year. According to studies, your top performers are 400% more productive than your average employees. 

So, if your best employees leave your company, it can impact your business in the long run. It leaves the employers to stay prepared to overcome the problem. In this article, you will know about the signs when your top employees are planning to exit and strategies to retain them for a longer duration. 

Why are top performers necessary for your business? 

Top performers are an asset to every company, they bring what is necessary, take ownership of their work, lift the entire team by setting the standards of the behavior, improve the workflow and productivity of the company and more. Here are some more reasons why top performers are necessary for your business: 

• Top employees elevate your brand.
• They improve your work culture. 
• Top employees train other employees. 
• They are consistent with their work, day after day. 

Signs that your top performers are about to quit

#1. They want more salary 

Every employee works for money. Employers believe that around nine in ten people switch their job because they want a higher salary. And when we talk about top performers, they empathize more on the salary front than the average employee.       

The logic is simple, if you want to retain top employees then you must be willing to spend more money. If you can't match their criteria, someone else will. So, it’s better to pay your top employees and retain them. 

It is not all about the salary, you need to provide your top performers with other monetary benefits. These benefits will improve job satisfaction. So, give your top-performing employees a pay rise. It will show them that you recognize their efforts at work. 

#2. No opportunities for growth 

Over 90% of workers will stay longer at their company if provided with career growth opportunities. The top performers don’t want to take only salary, but they also want to develop their skills and gain knowledge while working. 

Some surveys show that around two-thirds of top performers have left the organization with no training opportunities. Everyone in the company grows if you invest in your employees, and investing in your top performers is the ideal way to retain them. 

You are required to schedule training and development programs. You can set up workshops and ensure that all the employees participate. 

#3. They get stressed because of the overwork 

Stress is one of the factors that come with the job. You cannot avoid it, but you can implement ways to reduce it. The state is known as burnout; it leads to the detachment that impacts job performance and health. 

Burnout can happen to employees of any field and affects top-performing employees and managers. Employers need to promote work-life balance at every level of the company. 

Employers can also add mental health days according to the sick day policy. Ensure that your policies don’t prevent people from taking the necessary time off to stay healthy. 

#4. Clash of cultures between employer and employees

Every workplace works around the company culture, and it allows them to stay seamless through managing the whole process. Sometimes the company culture might not be ideal for everyone, and in this case, we are talking about top-performing employees. Employers need to ensure there is a match between the corporate values among employees and employers. 

What is the work culture that top-performing employees expect in a company? Top performing employees perform well because they think and work differently. They would like to work for a company that is socially responsible and sustainable. 

Ensure employees feel that the company is adding value, and it's not only about making money. The reason top performers leave is the lack of diversity present in the workforce.  

#5. No proper feedback to employees 

Sharing proper feedback with employees is an ideal way to invest in your employees. Your top performers want regular feedback. While no employee wants negative feedback, your star performers want to know how they can improve or better themselves and appreciate positive feedback. 

Most of the employees don’t want to wait long to get feedback. Employers tend to share the feedback only during the performance review meeting; they need to plan feedback meetings every 2-3 months. It helps the top-performing employees to analyse and improve themselves. Employers can take surveys to make the process seamless. 

#6. Inclined towards a career change 

High performers can adapt and learn more than average employees. That is why they get attracted to better opportunities. Your top performers might have wanted to start their work or do freelancing or opting for a different career path. 

You never know what career changes your top performers might find interesting, and it’s not in your hand. But you can try to make the workplace a better place by providing more options for them. You don’t want your top-performing employees to think that there are better options available somewhere else.

#7. They don’t fit well with their boss

Many people love their jobs, but they don’t share the bond with their boss. According to a study, employees quit their jobs because they want to get rid of their bosses. 

Whatever the issues they have with their bosses, there is no escape route left for the top-performing employees. When employees get left with the choice of working with a toxic boss or leave, going ahead with the latter option. 

The solution is to stop making top-performing employees working under awful bosses. Ensure that leaders get trained, so they can guide the performing employees, helping the company to grow. 

Strategies to retain your top performers

Top-performing employees are ambitious, and if they are not happy with their job, they’ll be on the lookout for a better opportunity. Therefore, retaining them becomes necessary. If you want to keep your best employees you have to make changes in the process, employee engagement strategies and more. These strategies get implemented by professional recruitment companies. 

Here are few ways to retain top employees: 

• Recognize their worth 

Top employees want to get recognized for their work time and time again. Let them know how they impact the business. Employees who get praise from the regular management tend to perform better and stay longer in the company. 

• Give them responsibilities

When your employees perform well in the given role, it’s the right time to expand their responsibilities. You can ask them to train interns or even new employees. They’ll have a feeling of accomplishment which leads to career progression. 

• Give them growth

Your top-performing employees have a growth mentality and want to grow both professionally and personally. The employer needs to create an environment and culture that promotes growth. Provide the employees with certification courses or conduct the training sessions. 

Conclusion 

Can you do anything to prevent your top-performing employees from leaving your company? These alarming signs will help you to identify if your best employees are about to leave the company. It will allow you to monitor the behaviour of the employees closely. Also, there are strategies to implement in your hiring process to retain your top performers. Let me know what you think about the article!!