In a perfect world, your so-called rockstar employees would never lose their mojo. Unfortunately, even the top performers run out of gas at times. When you find that they’re suddenly unmotivated you want to resolve that issue before they decline further or decide it’s time to bounce. 

Let’s examine how you can keep your high performers happy and motivated.

Encourage Ongoing Learning

When you offer your employees the opportunity to learn, you show them you are invested in their careers. You create a more nurturing environment where their career goals are encouraged and contribute to creating a more enriched work experience.

Help Them Develop

Along with actual learning, employee-development is important. While you can praise your rockstar employee’s performance, they also benefit from constructive criticism. That’s not to say you should be constantly pointing out their failings. Instead, you should be looking for teachable moments where you can help them develop their skills and become better at their jobs.

Communicate 1 on 1

It is not an uncommon practice for managers and business owners to focus their 1 on 1 time addressing issues with underperformers. However, the better managers understand the importance of spending regularly scheduled meetings with their high performers as well. This is an excellent way to remain more transparent, and also find opportunities to make their jobs more fulfilling.

Discussing things like acquiring a new client, upcoming projects or even challenges you might face provides them time to offer input and speak up if they would like to become more involved. They feel important and included instead of out of the loop.

Keep Work Balanced

Just like a student zones out in classes where they don’t feel challenged, your rockstars might lose interest if they are doing the same thing everyday. While opportunities might not always be available to switch things up for them, looking for chances to involve them in something new keeps them interested and engaged.

Offer Public Praise

At group meetings make sure the accomplishments of team members are shared with everyone. This shows your star performers their hard work didn’t go unnoticed while also possibly motivating others to work harder. It shows your respect for their work and generates a culture where appreciation is important.

Make Sure They’re Not Burning Out

If you have become overzealous in assigning your star performers too much work, they can start to show signs of burnout. While it is natural to want to assign more work to the people you trust, you could be making them feel more like workhorses and less appreciated. Be sure you are delegating work fairly, and if you see signs of burnout, talk to them about it. This shows you care and are invested in their success. You can take some work off their desks and spread it around, so they can feel less stressed.

Data from 2019 showed that more than half of the American workforce sought new jobs, and it often costs companies more to hire a new employee than to retain one. When you’ve lucked out recruiting top talent, your job is to keep them. Holding on to your rockstars will keep the band together. 

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