How do you keep your star performer motivated when there’s zero budget for a pay increase and no promotional opportunities? You don’t want to lose them - So what do you do?

Ok here we go…Part 2 of motivation…So what I'll do first is introduce an easy to use model….it’s taken from a book by Max Landsberg called the Tao of Coaching – It’s what's called the skill and will matrix - and it’s great for identifying ways to motivate people….as you can see from looking at the axis there’s what’s called low to high WILL and low to high skill…....low to high will, being someones drive, attitude and commitment…and low to high skill being their ability to do something with a level of expertise.

Now I’m keen to keep this as real as possible, so before we populate each of the four boxes with a cast of characters you might find within your team…I think it’s important to highlight the need to be mindful of your mindset….I say that, because on occasions I’ve had people assume that because someone is low skilled and low willed….it’s time to performance manage them out the business – That’s not what this is about….and I’m sure that would never be your thinking!….these are people you value and you want to keep as part of your team….the purpose of this exercise is to challenge you to think about how you’re gonna keep each of these individuals motivated?

Now I'll make life easy….I’ll introduce 4 real world characters who you could easily find in your team…I’ll start in the top left….So here we've got somebody who’s got a ton of drive, attitude and commitment….So loads of will, but right now not necessarily all the skills needed to be amazing at their role….So let me ask you…Who might fall into this camp?…Well, it’s reasonable to suggest it could be a new starter, an apprentice or perhaps a graduate….they’re super excited about their new job…but right now they’re lacking some of the skills needed….the good news of course….Skills can be taught - so here you need to be thinking about what can you do to maintain the motivation they’ve already got…AND begin skilling them up?

Lets move across to the top right-hand corner….This is an interesting one….What you’ve got here is someone who's highly willed, so full of drive, attitude and commitment, AND they're highly skilled too….Probably fair to say you definitely don’t want to lose this person…I’d imagine a great deal of time and investment has gone into them….plus should they choose to leave, replacing them could not only be expensive, challenging and timely but who’s to say you’ll even get the same level of loyalty?…What we’ve got here is one of your star performers….Now this may seem an easy one…but I’d  suggest it’s actually one of the harder ones…What is it you're going to tap in to, to maintain their motivation?…Here’s someone who’s good at what they do and may potentially be looking for opportunities to do bigger and better things….you’re not always going to be able to offer pay rises…and as we’ve discussed money isn’t necessarily everyone’s primary motivator….Plus of course, promotional opportunities aren’t always available, so there’s potential you’re gonna be limited with options….so how then are you going to keep them motivted?  What is it you can do?…A little hint, without me giving away too much…you might want to get creative!

Lets move on…..Now…In the bottom left-hand corner is someone who's got low will and low skill….So to remind you….We’re not trying to lose this person, they’re an integral part of your team - so a good place to start is to think about how someone might find themselves in this box?…Well how about somebody who's been seconded? Or perhaps “over” promoted!…I’ll bring this to life with a scenario…imagine your star performer has always wanted to be in a management position….an opportunity arises….You offer them the position….And now having found themselves in this new role…they’ve lost confidence, they’ve discovered it’s a steep learning curve involving detailed reports to senior management…not one of their strengths - Their will has slipped and they feel out of depth….So, what can you do?…what approach can you take that will put them back on track?..After all you wouldn't have offered them the role, had you not believed in their capabilities….Once upon a time they were your star performer…you need to support them to build their confidence - what’s the best approach?

And finally the bottom right-hand corner….So here we’ve someone with all the skills, but they’ve allowed their drive attitude and commitment to slip - so who might fall into this camp?…How about someone who’s repeatedly been passed over for promotion?….Now for context…I think it's important to add here….This individual hasn't done anything wrong….Theyre good at what they do, but there's other people out there who do an equally good job….It’s just life, sometimes you don’t always get what you want… and in this case others have got the role they wanted….in turn they've allowed their attitude to slip…so what can you to intervene and rekindle their motivation?…now I’ll be honest, I won’t pretend this last one is easy….especially as you can’t just inject someone with an improved attitude!!….so again a little hint….you may want to approach this one slightly differently.

Take time out and recreate this skill/will model for yourself…Have a think about each of the examples I’ve shared and ask yourself what approach and resources you could tap into, to maintain or inspire motivation. Don’t limit yourself to one or two things either, dig deep, and DON’T just lean upon training and coaching, sure they’re great options…and 100% they can be utilised…but there’s plenty of others too….Once you’re finished….Come back and I'll share some ideas and insights from my own experiences and those of the many thousands of people I’ve run this session with in the past.

Welcome back. So what I'll do is make my way through all four of these boxes and we can see how the ideas and insights I’ve got here…compare to yours…lets start with our new starter……..So one would hope our new starter is full of giddy excitement, they've got a new job, an amazing opportunity their drive attitude and commitment is off the scale - So the last thing we want to do is impact upon that!…In fact we want to take it and accelerate it…So what do we do? First ensure there’s a quality induction in place AND people know there’s someone new joining, plus make sure they’ve got the tools necessary to do the job on day 1 – sounds obvious right?….but I’d be willing to bet you’ve experienced a time when you’ve joined somewhere, nothing was setup for you, your laptop wasn’t ready, your login wasn’t setup, people didn’t you were joining…the list goes on – How did it make you feel?  What were your new impressions of the business you’d just joined?.…. “Jeez, I’m just another number!”…It’s really not that hard to make someone feel special…so don’t be that manger! Now of course with your new starter comes the knowledge there’ll be skills gaps…so ensure you’ve scheduled in training, coaching or the introductions necessary to set them up for success …Again it’s not hard to show someone that they’re valued and want to be invested in.

OK lets move on and take a look at what’s needed to keep our star performer motivated. Sure we've got the usual stuff, money , promotions etc, but as discussed, there’s a limit to those options…so we need to think of other stuff too…..perhaps offering greater responsibility or how about involving them as part of decision-making - Recognising their experience and tapping into their depth and breadth of knowledge….OR another way to keep your star performer motivated - think about what's low cost to the organization, but of high value to the individual….For example:  Additional holiday days, flexible working hours, convenient car parking, travel perks,  a job title change – the key message here GET CREATVE…AND, guess what!…find out what’s important to them – it’ll come as no surprise, once again this all comes back to knowing your people!

Right lets move onto our third person…our team member who’s been promoted….their confidence has hit a wobble and they’ve gone from being at the top of their game to becoming a shadow of their former self….what’s the approach here?…Firstly empathise, we’ve all experienced learning something new, put pressure on ourselves to get up to speed as quickly as possible…only to discover the learning process somewhat daunting….Reiterate your belief in them, you wouldn’t have recommended them for this position if that wasn’t the case. …Listen to their concerns and agree some objectives / small steps that’ll help them build back their confidence….you could also schedule training or coaching, and perhaps diarise more regular catchups where appropriate.

OK so onto our final scenario….the bottom right-hand corner – So here we have the team member that’s been repeatedly passed over for promotion.  In this situation there’s a slightly different approach required.  The bottom line is… in life we don't always get what we want. And yes, they've once again been passed over for the role. That’s tough, it’s crappy and it’s not fun when life repeatedly gives us lemons.  That said, in this instance the individual has allowed their situation to impact upon their motivation and while once again it’s important to empathise and recognise what they’re experiencing sucks, they’re the ones that need to work on creating the mental shift and building up their resilience….What can you do to support?  I’d recommend this, it comes from experience and is in the form of a negotiation….Look for opportunities to offer this person something of interest, something they can get involved in perhaps, a project or initiative. Offer a part of that project, with the promise of more should they make it a success and demonstrate a marked increase in their commitment and dedication….I’ve actually used this and it worked a treat…. 

The individual had been let down by the business on promises made to pay for a professional qualification and then they missed out on a large project they wanted to be a part of, which would have taken them around the whole country and really help them to consolidate their skills. Missing out on both these things put this guy into a dark place and their performance took a dive. They were brilliant at what they did and an asset to my team…I had to have a tough conversation with them and through doing so we came up with a plan.  I gave them an element of a project with the agreement that if I saw changes in their approach / attitude they’d get a bigger piece of the pie – it worked….Look I’m not totally naive I understand this approach may not be possible for everyone….But this is what being a manager and leader is all about, being resourceful, innovative, creative, putting your people first, believing in them and setting them up for success.  

I trust this has been helpful and you’ve got some ideas of your own….That’s it for motivation….in the next session we’ll delve into managing performance…