Your employees can be your greatest asset, but too many times managers find that the top employees leave for greener pastures.  This can be for a number of reasons and you may need to make some changes to encourage them to stick around.  Here are 7 ways to retain your top performing employees.

1. Give them Access & Follow the Open-Door Policy

In order to feel “heard,” your employees need you to listen.  Whenever possible, practice an open-door policy but don’t judge.  Allow them to give feedback and ask for assistance – from their managers and from “the boss.”  Employees who don’t have access, don’t feel valued.

2. Keep them Engaged by Constantly Challenging them

For a top performer, being interested in work is a must.  If a job becomes boring – they will go elsewhere as they often thrive on competition – with themselves or with others.  Keeping them interested in the job by adding new skills, new training or new territory helps maintain their attention and gives them something for which to strive.

3. Provide them with Authority and more Responsibility

A top-performer has figured it out and may be ready to move on.  When they are ready, give them the authority to make some decisions on their own.  This can be something as simple as no longer needing approval to take a client out for lunch or it may involve greater responsibility in the work place.  They have done a good job so far – and you should trust them.

4. Give your Top Performer Credit

Job satisfaction requires feeling valued.  When an employee has done a good job, say so.  This doesn’t always need to be a promotion or a raise (though that is certainly valuable) but can be much smaller.  The occasional gift card or lunch on the company doesn’t hurt – but even a simple “thank you” is highly valuable.

5. Provide Opportunities for Mentors

Even your top performers may benefit from a mentor – someone who can help them progress in their career path.  In addition, a lot of employees like to share their knowledge and experience by becoming mentors.  Offering someone a “trainer” position can go a long way in making an employee feel valued.

6. Provide Fair Pay

While job satisfaction can keep many people in a particular position for a long period of time, eventually a bigger paycheck may encourage them to jump ship.  Top performing employees should be compensated for their good work.  This means more than the standard “cost-of-living” raise or “next level” raise, it means that each employee should be evaluated and rewarded for performance.

7. Consider Greater Compensation, Not Just a Bigger Paycheck

If too many of your workers are leaving, you might consider greater compensation, and this doesn’t mean just the paycheck.  You may be constrained by budgetary concerns but one of the most important contributors to job satisfaction is the “other” pay, which are the benefits.  In today’s environment you probably can’t do much about healthcare but you can look elsewhere – vacation days, bonuses and flex-time or work-from-home can be good rewards for high performance.

In addition, you need to make sure that your employees are happy with the technology and workplace amenities.  No employee likes a clunky computer, uncomfortable chairs or distressed break-rooms – and these are easy fixes.

In closing, by providing a competitive, accessible, and engaging workplace, your company can retain top performers and ensure higher performance from happier employees!

By Ashish Vachhani