Welcome back to my podcast Scaling Out!
As I mentioned last time, in the professional world a Unicorn is the rarest of employees, the one the embodies all the traits required to excel at their position. This employee is integral in the ongoing success of the company and losing the unicorn could be the end of life as you know it. Maybe in a group of 100, 1 might be a Unicorn.
Do you have a unicorn on the team? Yeah? Ok, here is what I recommend to keep them engaged, satisfied, and loyal.
You have to speak to the entire person. Just as they are the entirety of the skills, you need to provide them every avenue of management support and career development.
1. Professionally –
2. Ensure that they are challenged by asking them how they feel about the project work assigned. Offer special projects that will keep them engaged.
3. Provide special opportunities for enhanced training, go outside of your way to incorporate them into learning opportunities such as conferences.
4. Recognize them for their work, individually, in the group, organization and at the company level. This can be thank you notes that include the upper management, but it also could include financial incentives – think raises, bonuses, and promotions.
5. Connect them with peers and with leaders, give them opportunities to expand their networks.
6. Personally –
7. Provide additional benefits – such as comp time for crazy project timelines & after hours work, or flextime
8. Improve loyalty by connecting personally
9. Go to bat for them in HR for benefits
10. Be available, make time for them
As a manager of a unicorn, you don’t think you need to work as hard because the unicorn can operate on their own just fine. But I would argue that you need to work even harder to keep your unicorns engaged for the long term. One more thing though, remember when I said you need to consider financial incentives like raises, bonuses, and promotions - sometimes this unicorn makes more money than you. That’s ok and I’ll talk more about that next time.
Until then stay safe everyone!
