What makes a top performer?
Indeed’s career guide describes high performers as team players who actively take on more work and leadership responsibilities than required for their roles and have a significant impact on the workplace. When surveyed, employers said their highest performers tend to have excellent problem-solving and communications skills and are typically self-directed, driven, and capable of adapting to changing environments.
Identifying emerging top performers within your organization can be achieved by focusing on nine key traits and habits. Top performers are typically:
Focused on goals
Positive in demeanor
Consistent in their efforts
Adept at learning quickly and building upon strong skill sets
Open to constructive criticism
Interested in professional growth opportunities
Respectful to others
Eager to provide leadership within their team
Committed to a healthy work-life balance
Identifying top performers with people analytics
According to the Harvard Business Review, people analytics is a critical tool for businesses making informed talent management decisions. While many organizations measure attendance, engagement, and performance at the workforce level, identifying the attributes of individuals and their relationships with peers provides even greater insights.
For example, consider looking at your high performers’ employment history, skill set, and education and development experience. This data can help bring into focus the characteristics businesses should seek in potential new hires. In fact, many organizations include their current top performers in the interview process with potential candidates.
Where to begin
Digging into people analytics may sound like a daunting task, but robust technology already exists to help you on your journey. Hiring low-performing talent has a significant impact on your business, so it’s critical the metrics you capture are real key drivers for workforce improvements across your entire organization.
A strong talent metrics solution will help you:
Measure and improve workforce ROI
Identify critical metrics and KPIs you weren’t capturing previously
Enhance your talent management capabilities, optimizing recruiting efforts and engaging your top performers
Locate the metrics you need quickly and as granularly as necessary
Educate your team on best practices and ways to apply results with confidence
Recognize areas for development and gaps in existing employees’ skill sets
Your people analytics strategy should have a direct impact on your business so you can focus your efforts on doing more of what works — and less of what does not.
To learn more about using people analytics to identify and retain the best talent, visit ThinkSight and start your journey to an improved bottom line.