Do you want your brightest best performers (Bright Stars) to leave your organization?

Has the poor economy in the US relieved CEO’s, VP’s and other managers from working to keep the “Bright Stars” in their organization?  What is a “Bright Star” (BS)?  A  BS is an employee that is making significant contributions to your organization to aid you in achieving the goals you have set for the organization.  In addition, he is an employee that will commit to taking on additional projects (over and above his present job) to assist in defining other opportunities of potential business for the organization and do it on a timely basis within budget.  These individuals are performing well above the position that they are in and are typically having an impact of 125 to 150 % of a typical employee and on occasions may work at a level of 2 to 300% above the typical employee.  A typical BS will earn you 5 to 10 times his salary the first year!

Every manager should be extremely concerned about keeping these employees in the organization and should develop a system to keep these employees.  If you don’t offer the BS something, they will leave!  The “Bright Star” is completely aware of what he is worth based on all the salary data available today.  You need to do the following:

1. Create a fast track policy and procedure to review employees sooner than typical performance employees.  (Such as, reviews on a six month basis rather than yearly).
2. Publish reports to your staff when significant accomplishments are achieved.
3. Give BS’s credit for what they do.  Do not let some middle manager take credit for what a BS has done.
4. Define what is expected of employees to achieve a status as BS.  Stick by the rules.
5. Reward the BS with praise, good reviews, and financially.  One thing a leader has over any organization is the distribution of raises and bonuses that can’t be taken away by anybody.  You should exercise this right as a leader.  Give BS’s financial compensation and give average performers’ average raises and make what you expect to be easily understood by the least capable employee that you have.
6. Set firm goals for your staff and review each of them honestly at review time.  Use your power to shape and move the organization to where you want it to go.  Don’t be pleased by second best.

If you tell me that all your employees are ‘Bright Stars”, your standards are way too low.  If you tell me that you don’t have any “Bright Stars”, maybe all of them have left and all you have left are a bunch of average performers that will never volunteer for any additional projects because they are already overworked (or so they say).  If you don’t have any “Bright Stars”, you should take immediate action to hire some from the outside.  Forget about the ‘good ole boy click’ and promoting from within using unqualified applicants.  Go for the best employee you can afford.

If you don’t have any BS’s, you will certainly suffer in the future and you will end up with a bunch of average performers.  Average won’t satisfy the future requirements.  Other organizations are trying to keep their “Bright Stars”.  Please for your sake and the sake of the organization that you are trying to improve, make an attempt to keep the brightest and best.  The rewards will be many.