You always knew that top performers are great at what they do, but new research shows that their impact on productivity is huge—even more significant than you might have thought. And that impact extends not only to them, but to their teammates as well. At the same time, they’re likely to quit because their skills give them so many opportunities and greater career mobility.

So how can you retain top talent and create the conditions for them to succeed, contribute and develop?

This is a critical question. Talent shortages are acute, and so you want to retain your best employees. In addition, engagement is at an 11-year low, which requires you to pay specific attention to culture and leadership. Fortunately, there are strategies that are particularly effective at retaining and developing top talent.

Top performers deliver incredible results – and go

It is important to know that top talent is of particular importance to the organization.

• First, they are 400% more productive than the average performer, according to a study conducted by researchers at Indiana University, which examined over 600,000 people across all job types, industries, time periods, and assessment methods.
• Second, top performers have a positive influence on those around them. According to a Harvard study, those who sit within 25 feet of the best employees increase their own performance by 15%.
• Third, top performers leave their companies more often than average employees. Specifically, 30% leave within the first year of employment, according to a study published in Journal of Human Resources and Sustainability Studies. This is likely because they have significant career prospects due to their skills and the visibility of their work (read: opportunity is knocking on their door).

All of these factors create a perfect storm, which is why it is especially important to lead and manage top talent effectively.

How to retain top performers

These are the most important factors in creating a work environment that motivates top performers to stay with you.

1 – Give feedback and recognition to top performers

Never take excellence for granted and give them plenty of feedback and recognition.

Because top performers tend to maintain their performance over time, you can’t take them for granted. If the first performance review results in top marks, but the next one is average because you just know that’s how they work, it will be a major turn-off for the employee. Make sure you always evaluate top performers fairly and value their ongoing performance.

Also, make sure you give meaningful feedback. According to a survey by Textio, top performers tend to receive feedback based on their traits rather than their behaviors. For example, a supervisor might tell them they’re “brilliant” instead of telling them how effective their approach to problem-solving is. Or a manager might tell them they’re a “team player” instead of being specific about how they involve others in the brainstorming process. Top performers need to hear what behaviors work and how they can improve.

Recognition is also important. According to a survey by Gallup and Workhuman, employees who receive recognition are 20 times more likely to engage. And according to Workleap, 87% of employees say recognition is particularly meaningful to them. So make sure you recognize, thank and encourage top performers for their work.

2 – Reward the best performers

People don’t just want praise, they also want to receive tangible rewards for their efforts. And when they deliver excellent results, it’s easy to justify paying them a good salary or bonuses.

We all value fairness in our work, so good employees want to know that they are fairly compensated for their contributions.

Pay them well and find ways to give them bonuses or even perks like extra vacation. You need to do this on a basis of fairness and equity that is consistent with the work they do – and you don’t necessarily have to make public how you compensate them – but you need to offer rewards for their work if you want to keep them.

4 – Offer top talent meaningful work

Another important way to keep good employees motivated is to give them meaningful work and substantive responsibility. Match their tasks as much as possible to what they love to do. No job offers a perfect match between these two things, but enrich their work as much as possible.

Give them the opportunity to design their own work and focus on it. Give them the opportunity to work on projects that lie outside their core tasks or to collaborate across departments. And give them the opportunity to take responsibility for their work and its results – and to lead formally or informally.

Also, evolve the content of your work as much as possible. Instead of having a static scope of tasks, try to add new initiatives alongside the main tasks.

5 – Offer growth opportunities to top talent

Also, make sure your best employees have the opportunity to learn, grow and develop.

Make sure it’s a good fit with what they want – in terms of what they’re passionate about. They might be particularly talented on the marketing team, but want to grow into a role on the strategy team.

Also, make sure you tune into how they want to get involved. For example, if they don’t want to take the typical path of advancement, offer them other options that are substantive and leverage their skills.

Find the right balance by giving your children the opportunity to determine their preferred learning style, but at the same time offering guidance and showing that you are closely monitoring their progress.

And make sure that their learning pays off – by enabling them to pursue a management career or ensure that they receive appropriate promotions.

6 – Offer mentoring to top performers

Having mentors is especially helpful for people’s success, but also for their reputation. Match top performers with mentors who can guide them, advise them, serve as a sounding board, and help them understand the culture and become more successful within the organization.

Because top performers have such a positive influence on others, you should also use them as mentors. This way, you reinforce their value and impact – and increase it at the same time.

7 – Avoid isolating top performers

Feeling connected to colleagues is a fundamental aspect of employee retention. When people feel like they belong and have good relationships with their colleagues, they are more likely to stay with the company.

Be careful not to inadvertently jeopardize the relationships of top performers by focusing too much on them or by sowing resentment among team members. Great performance is always a team effort, and even if someone is a superstar, their success should not overshadow the team’s performance or the efforts of so many others who contribute to the positive results.

Also, avoid feeling personally threatened by a high performer. The best leaders surround themselves with talented and capable people who have tons of skills and potential. Remind yourself of your own unique contributions and that there is plenty of recognition for them. Having a high performer on your team doesn’t take away your opportunity to be a high performer too.

Keep top performers

Ultimately, strategies for retaining top performers aren’t much different than those for other levels of performance. Everyone deserves meaningful work, helpful feedback and recognition, rewards for their efforts, and opportunities to learn and grow.

Providing these qualities is the recipe for great leadership. And great leadership benefits all types of employees in all types of jobs in all types of industries.