How to keep your top performers from leaving higher ed

As leaders, one of our most important roles is to ensure that those we lead are accomplishing great things. We want them to thrive in their work. We want them to create effective programs to support students, design transformational learning experiences, enroll engaged students who care about learning, and manage operations efficiently.

We want them to be rockstars!

But our rockstars don’t always stick around. They’re so capable and awesome at their work that we can take them for granted.

Until they let us know they’re moving on. (After all, they’re rockstars: they have options).

So, if you want to keep your rockstars around, consider these 5 strategies.

1. Tell them they’re rockstars. Be specific.  Often our top performers have high standards for themselves. After all, that’s how they got to be rockstars. But that doesn’t mean they know how awesome they are. (And even if they do, tell them anyway. )When you acknowledge their strengths, be specific. Instead of “Good job” or “I appreciate you,” tell them what makes them a rockstar. Say things like: “I really admire how often you acknowledge your team during our meetings” or “You demonstrated so much creativity in the design of that course.” By mentioning their specific strengths, you’re also letting them know what you value as a leader.
2. Figure out what matters most to them. Then give it to them if you can. (Hint: You usually can). Just because we care about time off and connecting with colleagues over lunch, doesn’t mean that those we lead care about the same things. They might value public recognition, travelling to conferences, creative projects, leading others, having a nice office, or joining the team for happy hour. Figure out what they need. You can ask them what they value most – but keep in mind that sometimes they won’t tell you, either because they don’t know, or because they don’t want to say out loud that what really matters to them is to be able to leave the office early sometimes.  So pay attention. Listen. Observe. See what lights them up.
3. Pay attention to their challenges – and support them through those challenges. Everyone needs something different. The mom of a 2-year-old needs a leader who understands and supports her when her child is sick and she asks to work remotely or come in late. The faculty member who has a spouse with cancer may need to teach all her classes online for a semester or two. The academic leader you supervise may have difficulty sleeping and need to come in late somedays. Whenever you can, make these adaptations and demonstrate flexibility.
4. Let them make mistakes – and be honest about it. Our rockstars hold themselves to a high standard, and generally don’t like to make mistakes. But they will. Especially if they’re taking on new challenges, being innovative in their teaching, leading a new team, or launching creative programs to support student success. Tell them you expect there will be bumps along the way – but that you’ll solve problems together, learn from them, and then make a different mistake next time. Providing the freedom to fail – and the freedom to talk about it when they do – will not only reassure your rockstars, but also open space for greater innovation.
5. Support their growth – in a way that they value. Our rockstars are rockstars because they challenge themselves to excellence. They usually value growth and development. They not only want to be excellent; they want to be better than they were before. Ask them how they want to grow. Do they want to lead a specific team or serve on a committee that matters to them? Do they want to earn another degree? Do they want to publish a journal article? Do they want to take on a higher-level leadership position? Ask them what they want – not just during formal employee evaluation or tenure review conversations, but regularly.

As leaders, we want to be fair, compassionate, and supportive of those we lead. However, sometimes in our efforts to be fair, we fail to provide support for someone when they really need it – even though we can.

One of the four strategies used by transformation leaders is to show individualized consideration (Northouse, 2022). That means we may need to resist our urge to apply the same rules to everyone. Everyone we lead is different: they bring different skills to their jobs, they use different strategies to achieve success, and they have different lives. They need us to know who they are and what matters to them. And create environments where they can thrive!

Rockstars are going to be rockstars no matter where or when they work – or how many hours they work. They’ll do amazing work even when things are difficult, whether they’re teaching online or on campus, working a 40-hour or 20-hour or 50-hour week. They’ll be rockstars whether anyone is watching or not.

What they won’t do is stick around if they feel like they can’t be rockstars. If they have to choose between being the type of parent they want to be or a rockstar employee, they may look for another path forward that allows them to do both. If they do amazing work but it’s never acknowledged, they may begin to wonder if what they’re doing matters to anyone. If they aren’t given opportunities to grow, they may look for a place that will provide that for them.

They’re rockstars. They have options. Make sure they know their best option is to continue to work with you. Make sure you create an environment in which they can thrive!