Mary was a successful senior executive working for a large insurance company. She was person that you wanted to have when things did not go well. Everybody loved her for her enthusiasm, never-ending motivation and her vision of taking organization to next level. About one year after this bright star was brought in and produced so well she started getting bored. She was quite character, so with her humor and high spirits she was able to mask her unhappiness.

When she accepted an offer at another firm nobody could believe it. Her boss did not understand her reasons, her team was disappointed, and her peers simply didn’t get it.

So, what could have prevented this situation? What could company have done to prevent this star performer’s departure?

Don’t Take Them For Granted

Don’t sit too comfortably just because employment market is tight. High performers find their way to new organizations even in a recession. If they are bored, unchallenged, or simply not passionate about where their work, they will find a solution.

Face Reality - Your High Performers Are Different

High performers are usually people who need a different form of motivation in order to stay passionate about their jobs. For them, self-motivation is an innate thing. It is fuel for their success. They do not need you in that department. They do need you to feed fire.

Understand Their Motivational and Values Profile

What exactly feeds fire? That could be different for each over-achiever you employ. It is not just money or power or leaving a legacy that excites them. Finding out primary motivators and values that they need to have in their workplace is an incredibly cheap investment in comparison to losing invaluable employees.

I've always been one to give compliments when they were due. So, after receiving repeatedly good service at this location, I decided I'd sing staff's praises. I asked to see manager. Fred came over and offered to help me.

I told him how pleased I was with service, and that - from my experience - not all Taco Bell's were created equal. (I had gotten some pretty rotten service at other restaurants.) Fred just smiled and said, "Well, I'm not only manager, but I own all Taco Bell's in city. I bet I can tell you which stores left you unhappy."

I was surprised. I named one location that I'd visited recently and Fred interrupted with, "The manager is not personable and doesn't treat employees well. I've been trying to find a replacement but have had no luck so far."

I named another store to which Fred replied, "That area is full of rich kids who are undependable and don't have any work ethic."

For each location I named, Fred began to tell me how good (or not so good) employees were. Never once did he say, "They can't make a taco to save their lives!" In fact, there was no mention of food at all. He didn't say, "They pre-make their burritos and let them sit" or "I've told them a hundred times they need to put more cheese on that." It all revolved around people.