Help Your Top Performers Soar Even Higher

Too often, high performers get roped into helping support the weaker members of the team or picking up the slack – rather than getting any additional time and input from their line manager.

So how do you turn this around? We asked our consultants panel for their top tips and advice on investing in your top talent to help them reach their full potential.

Schedule Development-Only 1:1s (Separate From Performance Reviews)

Invest where it counts!

I use The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace (Chapman & White), as a practical coaching tool to personalize recognition and development.

It’s a simple but powerful exercise.  

Then use the results to tailor how you invest in and support high-performing agents – including:

Contributed by: Michael Clark, Co-Founder and Principal Consultant of CXTT Consulting

Use a Sports Analogy to Emphasize Why They Still Need Coaching Time

Sometimes, top performers aren’t receptive to coaching or feedback. Especially when it’s just been introduced and not yet a routine, you’ll often hear, “Why do I need coaching? I’m smashing it.”

I’ve always responded to this with a sports analogy. For example, “Does Cristiano Ronaldo attend football practice with the rest of the team throughout the week? Yes!” Or “Did Serena Williams have a coach giving her constant feedback on her backswing technique? Guess what? Yes!”

You can even tailor coaching plans to align with their personal life goals to make them more engaging. With one top performer, my coaching session was to back-work his financial saving plan to get a mortgage and stop renting.

It was a three-year plan on a spreadsheet, broken down to his callback percentage, win rate, monthly bonus, life costs, and how much he’d be saving monthly – followed by a picture of a house on his desk as a goal and a purposeful reminder for why he was working so hard.

Contributed by: Alex McConville, Contact Centre Consultant and author of ‘Diary of a Call Centre Manager’

Don’t Micromanage Your High Performers or Abuse Their Goodwill

If you want your best people to stick around and stretch further, you need to coach them with intent, not just when something goes wrong.

That means recognizing strengths, praising progress, and asking questions that help them think, not just perform.

When we get better at catching what’s going right, we build trust, motivation, and momentum, so next time try:

• Coaching for growth, not just problems. Don’t just give them tougher targets… Give them better questions!
• Praising progress early. Don’t wait for perfection. Catch them doing something approximately right and say so.
• Being intentional. What’s your coaching intent? To fix – or to stretch?
• Spotting the small shifts. Sometimes the tiniest change makes the biggest difference. Let them know you noticed!

Great coaching isn’t about micromanaging your high performers or abusing their goodwill… It’s about fuelling their fire.

See them, stretch them, and celebrate them. They deserve more than a “You’re doing fine” in passing.

Contributed by: Rob Clarke, Director and Co-Founder of Elev-8 Performance

Ask Open Questions Focused Around Growth and Development

You need to up your coaching game and listen to your high performers so they feel just as heard and developed as other members of the team!

One way to do this is to ask open questions that are focused on their growth and development, such as:

• “What can I do as your leader to aid your development?”
• “What do you enjoy doing most in your role?”  
• “What does the next role look like for you?”
• “What skills do you have that you think could benefit the team?”
• “What do you see yourself doing in 12 months?”

Contributed by: Garry Gormley, Founder of FAB Solutions

Broaden Your Definition of a Top Performer (Not Everyone Wants to Be Your Next Team Leader!)

If you aren’t careful, all your focus will be on either those who need additional support to deliver on their day-to-day roles or those who are likely candidates for the next coach or team leader role. 

It’s critical not to forget the other high performers in the mix!

Those who may not be the next obvious candidate for team leader and may have skills more aligned to the wider contact centre support functions, should not be forgotten, so ensure that you take the time to understand what motivates them, where they want to be, and what support they need too!

Contributed by: Neville Doughty, Partnerships & Growth Director at Customer Contact Panel

Recognize the Skills Involved in Coaching Other Members of the Team

One of the hidden risks in managing high performers is the equity imbalance that develops when they are continually asked to support inexperienced colleagues.

While peer coaching can be energizing, it often tips into hidden overwork, leaving the high performer feeling that their own development is being sidelined.

Equity Theory highlights that people judge fairness not only by rewards, but by the balance between their effort and others’ contributions.^[1] When high performers feel their extra investment goes unnoticed or unrewarded, frustration and disengagement often follow.^[2]

As a coach or leader, it is crucial to make these dynamics explicit. Start by acknowledging the value your high performer adds through supporting others and recognize it as a skill rather than a convenient habit.

Then agree clear boundaries: How much time do they want to dedicate to mentoring or covering gaps? What proportion of their energy should be reserved for their own growth and goals?

You can also reframe their support role as part of their personal development rather than simply a drain. For example, position peer coaching as an opportunity to build influence, develop delegation skills, or prepare for future leadership roles.

Contributed by: Danny Wareham, Founder & Director of Firgun

For advice on how putting people first and leading with empathy benefits the contact centre, read our article: How to Limit Agent Burnout With Empathy-Led Leadership

…But Never Forget It’s YOUR Job to Look After the Underperformers (Not Theirs!)

It’s your job as a manager to develop and performance manage as appropriate, so don’t just fob your underperformers off onto your high-performing agents!

Roping in your top performers to support other lower-performing colleagues is likely to breed resentment in either the coach or coachee, and you risk losing the high performers who don’t want to do what you’ve asked of them.

Not only that, but high performers aren’t necessarily good coaches either – as what got them there will likely not get others there!

Oftentimes, it’s just best not to try this approach at all!

Contributed by: Pete Dunn, Customer Success Manager at evaluagent

If you are looking for tips and advice to give your lowest performers a boost to help them reach their full potential, read our article: Bottom Quartile Management – How to Boost Your Lowest Performers

Invite Them Into a Performance-Driven “Emerging Leaders” Programme

The top-performing companies that have strong cultures of engagement care about their employees’ effectiveness.

Then provide specific and progressive job training in the career direction they’re most interested in pursuing.

So, invite them into a performance-driven “Emerging Leaders” programme that starts with a core foundational leadership training that they’ll benefit from in the office as well as in their home life. 

Be prepared – it’s not always management that they want. They may want to pursue a role in another department or even another division in the company. 

If that’s the case, include an opportunity to be mentored by a top leader in their desired role and give them mini-assignments so they can practise what they’re learning too.

Contributed by: Adam Boelke, Founder of the Alignment Advantage Group, and author of the “7 Cs to Success” mastermind course on leadership & culture

…And Stop Saying You’re “Too Busy” to Get to Know Your People

Some will suggest top performers need “growth opportunities”, but this is an ambiguous term, and I would be scared stiff of accepting that role or even assigning “growth opportunities.” 

Success comes down to getting to know your people! Do any of them have untapped talents, skills, and abilities?

I met a team leader in a call centre, head of a 12-person team, who could not name a single team member without looking at their name badge. 

The team leader was referred to me, as they were one of the company’s best (highest performing) team leaders. If you do not know your people, you are the problem in coaching high performers!

I can hear the excuses now: no time, constant changes, too much other work, meetings (repeated ad nauseam ad infinitum), and worse. If you do not know your people’s names, talents, skills, and abilities, you are unprepared to lead, supervise, and manage!

Contributed by: Dr M. Dave Salisbury, COO at D&C Consulting LLC

How Do You Coach Your Top Performers?

Click here to join our NEW Readers Panel to share your experiences and feature in future Call Centre Helper articles.

For more information to help you improve your contact centre coaching, read these articles next:

• 7 Coaching Strategies Every Call Centre Needs
• Take Your Coaching Strategy to the Next Level
• How to Make the Best Use of Coaching Time

Reviewed by: Jo Robinson