You’re lucky if you have a shooting star employee. These are your high performers, the people you can rely on to do consistently good work. Plus, they’re able to handle the seemingly impossible tasks that no one else understands.
There is a downside to having a shooting star employee. They can outgrow a job, which can lead to problems.
How do you harness their brilliance, accept their likely departure, and use them to change the culture of your organization. Consider these tips:
Shooting Star Employees Don’t Last Long
Shooting stars flash brilliantly across the sky. While you love an employee who excels at his or her job, that person will eventually outgrow the position. A couple of things will happen:
- The employee hits an advancement ceiling, where there’s no available promotions or further growth opportunities. In frustration, your great employee starts to go on auto-pilot, and becomes less engaged in the job.
- The person stays motivated but eventually leaves for a better position at a different business. While it’s great for them, you may feel frustrated at seeing them leave. Get over this feeling. It’s better to have an exceptional employee for two years, rather than an average one for a decade.
Help Them Leave
Once you spot the talent in a shooting star employee, start to think about their departure. They may love your business and have no plans to leave. But you know there will come a point when they’ll hit the ceiling in your organization.
During an annual review, talk to them about next career move. They may have never thought about these possibilities.
You’re not trying to scare them away but make sure they stay engaged.
There are some who are happy where they are and will stay due to an external factor, like something related to family or some other perk of the job.
Others will appreciate you’re supporting their career growth and thinking about their future.
Change the Culture
Overall performance will likely suffer if employees feel like they are in dead-end positions. But if everyone sees a top performer advance to a better opportunity, they may feel inspired to work a little harder because they see moving up is possible.
Excellence often breeds more excellence. This is why it’s good to have a shooting star employee, even if it’s just for a couple of years. That person will raise the overall level of performance.
It’s okay to have a revolving door of shooting star employees. Some talented people may be attracted to your business because of the chance to advance, to bigger and better things, down the road.
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