A leadership survey held by BSI in 2010 exposed “ retention of top performers ” to be the 3rd toughest problem for business leaders these days. We frequently question if they will stay, if they will quit, or situations that will make them leave. The reality is, your high performing employees have already made the decision if they will stay or leave! That’s right. Folks who will stay already know why, and what would make them leave. Folks who will leave have decided when, and what would cause them to have a change of heart and stay. So for you as a leader, attempting to guess what’s in their heads will get you nowhere fast.

Do you know the things they know? If you don't know, it will be your loss! It could be that it’s too late to keep some top performers - not so for other people. Information is power and the sooner you act the better.

Here’s a straightforward tip: You will need to get information if you want to hold on to your high performers… but what kind of information are we talking about? First, stop.

1. Stop making assumptions - about which of your employees are prepared to bolt and why, and which will stay and why. Things are not always what they seem.

2. Stop projecting - your own personal needs and choices on your high performers. For example, if you’d move on for more compensation, believing others would, is projecting. Maybe you prefer to know your options, and you’d leave only if the perfect job surfaced; you are projecting by believing that others will do little more than shop around.

3. Stop behaving helpless - concerning getting high performers to stay. It’s correct that high performers leave because they're not receiving what their performance deserves, but income is not always the reason. They may say it is, but telling the truth on the way out of the door serves no function from their standpoint.

The important task is to be informed about what your high performers are thinking. This can only be carried out by building business relationships, establishing confidence, and making it effortless and safe for them to tell you what is going on.

You’re ahead of the game if these behaviors describe your leadership style. After all, these are the basics for leadership derived from leadership training, executive and leadership coaching, leadership consulting, MBA programs, even the school of hard knocks.

It’s never too late to start. If you want you keep them, then follow the tips above.

Author's Bio: 

BSI is an executive coaching Atlanta firm. We also provide management training programs in Atlanta. Find out more about our inspiring books for women