Last week, I wrote an article with the measures of how to best identify and ultimately recruit high performing team members.  The next step is to ensure these high performers stay with your organisation to build a high performing team.

One of my favourite books is by Jim Collins–From Good to Great. In this book he uses the analogy of a bus– an organisation needs to get the right people on the bus and remove any poor performers from the bus.

I would add to his analogy one critical element: that of needing to have the right bus for people to get on. In this example, the bus would represent the culture of your team and organisation. If you select high-performing people and put them on a poor bus– they’ll want to get off! The first step to recruit the high performers you’re after will have been wasted.

How do we ensure we have a suitable ‘bus’ for high performers? A good culture and high employee satisfaction are mandatory. This helps you recruit high performers, because your organisation’s advocates are the best brand messaging you can promote.

Here’s how to manage and keep high-performing teams.

Build trust

Trust is built on three components.

• Outcome trust – doing what you say you are going to do. Following through on what you promise.
• Relationship trust – building rapport with team members and creating close professional relationships at work
• Emotional trust – Backing up your colleagues and supporting them. There is no room for talking behind colleagues’ backs. Communication should be upfront, conveyed positively and honest.

You need to give trust to get trust. This shows that you respect team members.

Increase engagement

Organisations with connected and engaged employees experience 20-25% more productivity (The McKinsey Global Institute). So how do we get team members engaged?

Engagement is based on two main characteristics.

• Uncovering your purpose and finding a way to fulfil your purpose through your job role.
• Giving team members a sense of belonging through the organisation’s values and culture.

If you’re still wondering how to manage and keep high-performing teams, consider this next step to create clarity and alignment.

Create clarity and alignment 

High performing teams consist of team members who are aligned in their values and goals. This includes:

• Having clarity around your organisation’s goals, vision, values and purpose
• Understanding team priorities and focused on achieving them
• Getting buy-in from all team members.

Integrate these three components through good communication to sustain a high-performing team environment.

For example, consider a regular Town Hall meeting, where employees have an opportunity to ask questions and engage with business executives. You can also create an executive report of findings and outcomes.

Lazlo Bock, former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, credited the weekly Town Hall meetings conducted by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as crucial to building the success of Google.

Leaders who can build trust and engagement will undoubtedly have the best performing teams. They will be able to attract and retain high performers.

Are you building your team for the future?

Under the current economic and social conditions, it may seem like recruitment should not be front of mind. On the contrary, now is the best time for organisations to put into practice the points I have outlined. Businesses that position themselves NOW to recruit, retain and engage with high performers will set themselves up for long term success. Recognizing current high performers and ensuring they are company advocates will position your business ahead of the curve when recruitment lifts again.

About the author

Kirk Peterson is the founder and Managing Director of Performance Shift. He is a renowned thought leader with over 30 years’ experience in leadership, business strategy, and people management, along with a history of playing with, and coaching high-performance sporting teams. 

About Performance Shift 

Performance Shift specialise in creating High Performing Individuals and High Performing Teams. Using a combination of data and worldwide research-based insights, theoretical models, team diagnostics and personal experience, Performance Shift can implement strategies resulting in a sustainable culture of performance. 

www.performanceshift.com.au

contact: info@performanceshift.com.au

The post How to manage and keep high-performing teams appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

Many of us want to recruit the best possible candidates – the High Performers. As Steve Jobs said, “go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A-players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.”

But you need the correct criteria and to ask the right questions to be able to identify high performers, the A-players Steve Jobs refers to.

Having worked within, led and trained many high-performing teams, here’s my outline to attract, select and retain high performers and interview questions to recruit high-performers.

Identifying high-performing people

Below are three key traits that I believe are the identifiers of a high performing person. Assessing these will enable you to readily determine a high performer.

Emotional Intelligence – Motivation and Desire

Emotional intelligence consists of the following:

• Motivation and the desire to improve
• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Empathy
• Social Skills

People with high emotional intelligence will be in full control of their emotions, calm in a crisis, and will make decisions sensitively while reading the emotions of others. Their can-do attitude can bolster morale in other team members.

Grit

Grit can be measured by passion and perseverance. These may be the building blocks but grit is more than the sum of its parts. People with grit are goal-oriented, purpose-driven and will do whatever it takes to achieve.

This is where effort counts as much as talent as someone with grit refuses to quit.

Does a person stick to their long-term goals or are they distracted by new ideas and projects? If a person is too easily distracted, they won’t become a high performer.

Resilience

This consists of:

• Wellbeing- mental and physical
• Recovery
• Ability to Bounce Back

A resilient person will be one who when faced with a setback or negative outcome, will recognise it, learn from it and quickly move on.  They will recognise the importance of movement, nutrition and sleep and act accordingly to maintain their physical and mental health.

Using the above as a baseline we can compile a list of interview questions that will enable us to recognise these characteristics in a candidate.

9 Interview questions to recruit high-performers 

• What are your motivations and purpose in your job?
• What feedback has been given to you that has surprised you?
• What have you done when you’ve been given poor feedback?
• Give an example of when you have displayed empathy.
• How do you build rapport with your team members?
• What are you passionate about?
• Give an example when you have displayed perseverance?
• When did you bounce back from a negative situation and how long did this take you?
• What physical activity do you do and how much sleep would you get on average, each night?

By asking these nine interview questions to recruit high-performers, you’ll get a great understanding as to whether a candidate has the characteristics that you’re looking for. You can glean some valuable insights about a candidate’s attitude, work ethic, tenacity, and sense of teamwork – all of which are key drivers in high performance.

Ask for multiple examples in your interview, using the questions above. Many candidates can come up with one example to answer your question. High performers will come up with several. This will also eliminate candidates who may have practised or rehearsed their answers.

It’s also important to appreciate that salary is not the sole driver for top performers at work. During your interviews, connect with them to find out what their drivers are. This could include flexible work hours or working on innovative projects. Show them how your organisation can fuel their growth – they want to be challenged and motivated and will have a growth mindset – so this will be important to them. High performers are always in demand, so you need to sell them on your organisation in the interview.

Asking about these drivers will also deliver key information for the next stage – retention. Once you have successfully recruited a high performer, the next challenge is to then retain them. High performers will add value to your organisation, but it is important to know how to effectively manage them.

Next week I’ll share how best to manage and keep a high-performing team together.

About the author

Kirk Peterson is the founder and Managing Director of Performance Shift. He is a renowned thought leader with over 30 years’ experience in leadership, business strategy, and people management, along with a history of playing with, and coaching high-performance sporting teams. 

About Performance Shift 

Performance Shift specialises in creating High-Performing Individuals and High-Performing Teams. Using a combination of data and worldwide research-based insights, theoretical models, diagnostic tools and personal experience, Performance Shift can implement strategies resulting in a sustainable culture of high performance. 

www.performanceshift.com.au

contact: info@performanceshift.com.au

The post 9 interview questions to recruit high-performers appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.