It’s pretty clear that without innovative, passionate, self-driven and intelligent (IQ and EQ!) people, our teams wouldn’t be nearly as successful. They are the life-blood of any organisation and drive innovative change and enterprise-wide development.

Star performers are the people who make waves in their industry and move mountains in everything they do. I’m sure we all know at least one. The individuals who are highly skilled in their trade, infectious with their positivity, lead (even without a title) and generally just make things happen! They can be total game changers in a company and they often know this. They tend to know themselves very well and know they can choose their career path; and do so very carefully..!

Could you use someone like this in your team? Wouldn’t it be great to have a team FULL of these star performers? The good news is, there a few key things you can do to ATTRACT these sorts of people. Check yourself next time you’re in ‘hiring mode’ to see if you’re on board with these 4 strategies…!

1. Have a clearly defined Vision, Mission and Values Statement

Star performers are attracted to companies with a strong mission and reason for being. It provides a ‘greater sense of purpose’ and is a key indicator as to whether they resonate with your company at a basic, raw-essentials level. If this vision reflects passion, inspiration and performance they are likely to identify. Ensure this VMV statement is something you believe in too…the delivery is just as important as what’s written there…!

2. Preach Culture, Education and Recognition

Internal team culture can be a major turn on or turn off in itself for anyone interviewing with your company! Ensuring you have some good examples of how your team works but more importantly how you PLAY and get involved in the broader company and community! Star performers also love the opportunity to add more tools to their belt. Placing an emphasis on furthered education opportunities you offer will also give them an understanding you’re there to work with them to grow their career profile. Finally, recognition for top performers is always welcomed. They already know they’ll likely fall into this top percentile so knowing how they may receive a ‘gold star’ in the process will always be a bit of icing on the cake!

3. Present a clearly defined career development plan

Star performers are good at what they do. They are going to want to know there is a clearly defined plan and defined benchmarks to hit so they can move on up in your company. They are going to want to know how quickly they can get there and what exactly they have to do to wow. They are likely wanting to know what’s expected as a minimum and will make a mental plan to supersede this benchmark so ensure your targets are clear, concise and achievable.

4. Develop an ‘on-brand’ and cohesive recruitment plan

This one is important. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard candidates say they’ve been turned-off by a company even before speaking with anyone physically working there. The experience they had with the recruiter representing that brand was really off-putting! Ensure, if you are going to partner with an industry specialist that they’ve taken the time to get to know you and know your brand; who you are, what you stand for and can preach all of the above points! Ensure they are on top of all avenues of attracting talent and actively engage with the people in their market on a regular basis and have become trusted advisers to these star performers. Ultimately, if your recruitment plan is cohesive and you’ve developed strong partners who you trust, the actual interview with your next star performer will serve as a reiteration of everything they’ve already been sold on and it will further qualify all the reasons they are sitting in front of you today!

Now it’s up to you; you’ve talked the talk so now it’s time to walk the walk in delivering on all of these amazing pieces. It’s up to you as a leader to keep your stars challenged, engaged and recognised to retain their wave-making, mountain-moving awesomeness!