Image source

Exceptional employees possess unique abilities, talents, skills, and characters that set them apart. They not only focus on the primary goals, but they also go beyond expectations. Additionally, exceptional employees are quick to identify and solve problems at the workplace. 

These are some of the qualities employers look for when hiring. 

However, it’s a challenge for any organization to find such unique skills and abilities during recruitment. 

Exceptional employees are often fully engaged. They have jobs, and are often quite happy where they are, especially if they have an engaged employer who knows their worth. 

Therefore, it’s up to you as an employer or team leader, to develop exceptional employees out of the team you already have. 

It takes time, resources, and unique leadership skills and tactics, to develop and maintain exceptional employees. 

Leadership tactics to develop and manage employees with unique skills and abilities

1. Hire the best

Developing exceptional employees starts at recruitment.

Find employees with the right skills and talent that align with the goals of the company, as a base. Then go a step further and choose someone with unique skills and interests that can be nurtured to excellence. 

These unique skills can include emotional intelligence, stellar communication, leadership, among others.

It’s worth noting that most exceptional employees value culture, opportunities, career advancement, and work responsibilities, above monetary compensation. 

Create a culture that attracts exceptional employees to your organization or team.

2. Take your time

Developing exceptional employees does not happen overnight or in a few weeks. As a leader, you need to cultivate patience in every step and process.

Developing talent for your company is a multi-step process that needs time to bear desirable fruits. 

First, you need to develop and implement processes and policies for employee engagement. 

Additionally, come up with retention strategies to enable your employees to stay and contribute positively to the organization’s growth.

Such strategies include;

• Developing transparency
• Holding yourself and the employees accountable
• Recognizing top performers
• Upholding your core values
• Allowing for honest feedback from the employees
• Training and development

This way, you’ll assemble a team of employees committed to the growth and success of your company or organization. The employees will develop love and passion for their jobs which will increase their productivity levels.

3. Be a role model

Exceptional employees want somebody to look up to, and in most cases, they expect their leaders to be their role models. 

Therefore, as a leader, you should work on inspiring your employees with model behavior. To do this, you need to cultivate exceptional skills and traits that will influence your team to make them outstanding. 

Your work ethic should reflect your expectations from exceptional employees. For instance, if you want your employees to value work/life balance, make sure you’re not only doing the same, but also actively encouraging your team to be more balanced.

The qualities and targets you set for your employees should be visible in your work ethic. 

Additionally, continuously improve your personal and leadership skills and behaviors so that you remain a worthy mentor and leader. By doing so, you will earn your employees’ respect, which is vital in building an excellent team.

4. Encourage continuous development

Do not wait for the annual reviews to show your employees their productivity levels. 

Arrange daily and weekly engagement and come up with individual development plans to help build your employees’ skills. 

For starters, ask each employee what their career goals are and how they would like to contribute to the success of the company. Assign each employee tasks according to their passion and ambitions. Come up with developmental tasks to help sharpen the employee’s unique skills. 

For instance, if you identify one with leadership skills, assign them a team to test and sharpen their leadership skills and tactics. If you identify any areas of weakness, try to advise them and show them what needs to be done.

The developmental tasks shouldn’t be a once-off. They should be assigned over and over again to build up gradually. And in the end, you’ll witness a significant return on investment in terms of productivity, efficiency, morale boost and self esteem in your team.

5. Provide appropriate tools and equipment

A good leader must be willing and able to invest in state-of-the-art tools such as machinery, office equipment, software, and training. Exceptional employees will combine their unique skills with the right tools to maximize productivity. 

Providing the right tools enables them to do their work effectively and efficiently.

If your team is working remotely, provide adequate and appropriate space as well. Remote work does not mean that you neglect your employees comfort and safety. You can provide a stipend or reimburse money spent on computers, work desks and chairs, and other necessary tools. 

6. Cross-training 

Image source

It’s essential to train and educate your employees about the various functions of each department within the organization. Each employee should understand all the activities and processes that take place within the company.

The primary goal here is to come up with a dynamic team of exceptional employees who can effectively collaborate across all levels and departments. 

This will not only ensure smoother operations, but will also be effective in improving work culture.

For instance, every team member should understand how a product moves from the manufacturing phase until it reaches the final consumer. This way, employees will become one team and will recognize the efforts of each individual towards company goals.

Benefits of  building an exceptional team of employees

Why do you need to spend all the time and resources to create exceptional employees?

 Here are some reasons to motivate you to build exceptional employees;

• Exceptional employees are more efficient and productive
• By nurturing their skills and recognizing their efforts, you give them the knowledge and experience to serve company goals
• The employees become knowledgeable and skillful in all aspects of the company
• Your customers will enjoy better service hence the customer base will increase
• Customers will become more loyal 
• Your brand reputation will rise
• You have higher retention rates, which positively contributes to your bottomline.

Conclusion 

As a leader, you can consult experts like employment lawyers, to ensure you are doing everything by the book. However, developing and managing exceptional employees requires you to go a step further. 

It all starts with hiring the best talent, and after that, taking the time to invest in their skills, career development, and equipping them with the right tools. 

As a leader, you must also model what you want to see in your employees. 

The good thing about building an exceptional team: You get a significant return on your investment.