HRM Five: High-performers

It goes without saying that generally, high performers are good for business. Most organisations want to recruit high-performers and identify the ones they have. Beyond just performance numbers, here are some traits to nurture and look out for.

1. Self-starting

High-performers are more likely to take initiative to pitch (or even just start) projects, and find solutions to questions they haven’t even been asked yet.

2. Strong work ethic

As the saying goes, genius is 99% perspiration. High potential doesn’t mean anything without hard work. But it’s not about putting in long hours – it could be just easy to stay in the office for 12 hours, and spend most of those messing around.

3. Growth mind-set

High performers want to continually get better. This means constantly learning – reading the latest books, attending conferences, signing up for workshops. In the era of disruption, this strategy gives them a leg up in adapting to change.

4. Receptive to feedback

It’s difficult to improve oneself in silo. Feedback and input from colleagues and supervisors are imperative to figuring out one’s shortcomings. High performers frequently request detailed feedback, and it’s important to provide avenues for them to be able to do this (and to ensure managers are up to the task of delivering).

5. Strong inter-personal skills

There are certainly fields where high performers don’t need to be able to communicate clearly or work well with others. But in most jobs, the ability to do an excellent job – to exceed expectations and set the standard – is tied to how well a person is able to handle teamwork, and how well they can express themselves or their ideas.

Yamini Chinnuswamy offers five important points on everything you wanted to know about HR practices today, but were too afraid to ask. Check out previous editions of HRM Five here.