Keep your best people

Ask each team member what they value about their work and what they would change. Include the people whose work already meets the standard. Reliable work is easy to stop noticing, especially when other people need help. Do not wait for a mistake or a resignation to give a strong performer your attention. Ask about workload, pay, support, and development without assuming which matters most.

Listen to their answer and agree on an action you can take. If they raise something outside your authority, explain whom you will approach and when you will report back. Promise only what you can do.

Discuss what they want to become capable of doing. Choose a useful assignment and arrange support, recording the agreement in development notes. Support appropriate opportunities elsewhere in the organization too.

Recognize specific contributions when you observe them, in a form the person welcomes. Give evidence of those contributions to the people making pay and promotion decisions.

Return to the agreed action and ask whether it addressed their concern. Check workload before adding another responsibility to someone who already performs well.