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How Low-Performing Individuals Impact the Productivity of A-Players

Every leader aims to build a team that consistently delivers exceptional results, especially in highly competitive sectors like SaaS and sales. However, balancing diverse talents within the team can be challenging. High-performing individuals, or "A-players," often carry the heaviest load, innovating, problem-solving, and setting the standard for success.

Build Strong Foundations: Hire Right

High-performing teams are made up of high-performing individuals, which means hiring managers need to think about who will make up their team and how they will find the right people. Traditional recruitment methods will advertise a role and wait for the right candidate to approach them; however, if you’re serious about building a high-performing team, you don’t want to leave it to chance.

Partnering with an executive search firm in your industry will allow you to pinpoint and find precisely who you need to make up your high-performing team. When recruiting new people, ask questions about whether or not a candidate is individually high-performing and a team player and who will contribute positively to your team specifically.

Culture interviews and some form of competency evaluation are becoming more common as companies seek to find employees who will be a good fit in terms of skill and culture. Remember that this goes for hybrid, in-person, and remote teams.

Invest The Time: Don't Underestimate Onboarding

Finding talented people is the first step in building a high-performing team.

Onboarding not only welcomes people to your team and your company but also sets people up with the foundations for success in their new role. You’ve likely spent a lot of resources finding talented individuals, so you’ll want them to stay with you as long as possible to impact your growth plans significantly.

The lack of effective onboarding is a significant reason companies lose 17% of their new hires within the first three months, and 20% of all staff turnover occurs within 45 days of employment (Source: Forbes).

There are multiple benefits to having a great onboarding process. Take the time to create one which new talent will be impressed by.

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work: Build Relationships

Whether it’s a marketing, technical, sales or leadership team you’re building, strong teams combine their strengths to help mitigate their weaknesses. There are several ways to strengthen teams, including encouraging open communication and collaboration.

Good leaders should aim to improve synergy between team members to ensure people’s skills, strengths, and weaknesses complement each other. If there is a disruption in synergy, pinpoint the problem and take the steps to rectify it.

Drive Continuous Improvement: Learning and Development

Great leaders will know that high-performing teams only stay high-performing with continuous improvement, driven through learning and development.

Learning and development can be established through formal workshops or round table discussions to share ideas and new points of view. Sharing ideas and best practices will allow your team to learn from one another to ensure the best chances of success for everyone.

Think about continuously educating your team about their role, the industry and trending topics such as diversity and inclusion. Knowledge is power.

Praise and constructive criticism are both essential tools for building a high-performing team. When used effectively, they can motivate team members, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and enhance overall team productivity. Here’s how praise and constructive criticism can contribute to a high-performing team:

Recognising and appreciating team members’ efforts and achievements can boost their morale and motivation. When individuals feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to their work. In addition, when delivered in a supportive and respectful manner, constructive feedback can motivate team members to improve. It provides clear guidance on areas where they can enhance their skills and performance.

Praise and constructive feedback also encourage effective communication, trust and relationship building.

Encourage your team to perform better.

There is no secret to creating a high-performing team; however, with the right insight and support, you can create one.

Build a High Performing Team