The Science of High Performance: What Unites Top Talent

You’ve probably heard a thousand times that having a competitive advantage is essential for business success. But can an individual’s mindset and ways of working be a competitive advantage to your business?

This document aims to share the background and the results of the internal Successors’ research that was performed at Hostinger. The purpose of the study was to analyze the factors that contribute to the profile of the highest-performing employees and prepare recommendations for hiring, employee training, and strategizing to retain the highest-performing employees. The general idea behind this study is to strengthen strategic talent management and increase the highest-performing employee workforce at our company, but it can be easily applied to any company or team, regardless of size or field.?

Summary

20 Hostinger employees were invited to interviews to answer questions about their performance. Many attributes were revealed as important to individual performance (such as the ability to learn, a good manager, etc); however, four themes were evident only in the highest-performing employees:

1. Ambition as intrinsic motivation: the highest-performing employees are ambitious and have a need for achievement and power. A need for power can be expressed as aiming for high career positions and/or exerting influence on others.
2. Attitude towards colleagues: the highest-performing employees expect a team composed of strong, motivated, and smart colleagues. Good relations in the team are important but less than having a strong team. The highest-performing employees feel demotivated by underperformers.
3. Business orientation: the highest-performing employees demonstrated the ability to see the bigger picture and deliver results to the benefit of the business.?
4. Self-efficacy as the mechanism for coping with unclarity and complexity: the highest-performing employees have a “can-do” attitude and feel in control. They prefer to own tasks from the beginning to the end to be able to decide how to perform the task themselves with the use of a full skillset. They are demotivated by tasks that create no value and must see how results influence either customers or their colleagues.

This document also provides recommendations for hiring and retaining the highest-performing employees and recommendations on how to increase the performance of other employees.? ???

Introduction

According to Campbell, “Performance is what the organization hires one to do, and do well” (1993, p.40). Campbell is considered a pioneer of individual performance research. Even though many discoveries about individual performance have been made, the aim of all performance-related studies remains the same even after 30 years. Individual performance is something that organizations want to understand, increase, and optimize.?

The performance concept is two-dimensional: task and contextual. Task performance is associated with the ability to do a job and in-role behaviors that vary between jobs. It is related to the ability to execute the technical aspects of a task. Contextual performance is connected to individual traits and enthusiasm and is associated with extra-role behaviors that are relatively similar across an organization. These behaviors include interpersonal facilitation that smooths the organization's functioning and job dedication that is supposed to change and improve organizational processes. Contextual performance at Hostinger is defined by 10 principles.?

Because the definition of contextual performance varies between different organizations, specific factors determining the highest-performing employees also differ. That is why internal research is the only way to analyze and understand the factors causing individuals to achieve the highest performance at a certain organization. An awareness of these factors should lead to long-term strategic talent management initiatives and give valuable insight into hiring, employee training, and the highest-performing employees’ retention strategy.

Methodology

The study included 20 people from various departments. Each participant completed a Big Five personality test and participated in a semi-structured interview that lasted approximately 45 minutes.?

Individual performance literature provided a theoretical framework for the research with three different perspectives: individual (explores differences in ability, personality traits, and experience), situational (seeks to find in which workplace situations performance increases or decreases), and performance regulation (analyses performance process sequence). See the figure below for a more detailed explanation.?

Interview questions were created by following this framework. The aim was to examine which factors are exceptional for the highest-performing employees and contribute the most to the highest individual performance at Hostinger. The qualitative data analysis was performed with the help of thematic analysis (phrases and sentences were coded and segmented to different repeated themes).?

Results

Various factors from different performance perspectives contribute to achieving a high individual performance at Hostinger:?

• responsibility and reliability; striving to learn; openness to experience; work experience that the person has (attributes from the individual performance perspective);?
• company’s culture and values; a manager that one can learn from and who gives autonomy and does not micromanage; team (attributes from the situational performance perspective);
• clear goals; planning; feedback; hard work (attributes from the performance regulation perspective).

However, 4 themes were not that generic and were limited to only the highest-performing employees at Hostinger:

1. Ambition as the intrinsic motivation;?
2. Attitude towards colleagues;?
3. Business orientation;?
4. Self-efficacy as the mechanism for coping with unclarity and complexity.??

The figure below demonstrates how these themes are connected conceptually. The next chapters will discuss and try to explain how these themes and their interconnections contribute to the result of being a highest-performing employee. One-way arrows with a solid line represent the direct performance path toward the result and demonstrate how certain factors (such as ambition, high expectations of self and colleagues, self-efficacy, etc.) influence the path. This path is supported by the study's results in accordance with the literature findings. The dotted lines show possible indirect relations between the factors. Two-way arrows represent reciprocal relations between two factors.?

Ambition as intrinsic motivation

The highest-performing employees demonstrated an internal drive to perform. They described themselves as feeling a continuous necessity to accomplish demanding tasks, overcome any challenges in their way, and, in most cases, do so in the best possible manner.? The internal drive and the striving for achievement were explained by having an ambition in life and a continuous and generalized seeking of success. Ambition is highly related to motivational states that influence job-related actions (such as dedication and enthusiasm to do the job) and performance accordingly.

Ambition is thought to be related not only to achievement but also to striving for status and need for power. Striving for status can manifest through aiming for high career positions and/or exerting influence on others. The study results also confirmed this statement, as most participants highlighted the motivational aspect of exerting influence or being in power. One of the participants (P8a) highlighted it was very motivating that the team members saw her as a role model: "They learn from me, and they look at how I do, and they kind of want to repeat, and they ask for advice."

To sum up, ambition pushes the highest-performing employees to wish to achieve more, be motivated and persistent in reaching their goals, and exert influence on others. Thus, it facilitates proactive behaviors, the fulfillment of tasks, and contextual performance.

Attitude towards colleagues

Working in a team comes with different expectations. Usually, teamwork is about collaboration, cooperation, and maintaining relations. On the other hand, individuals and teams are still expected to achieve results. Therefore, job-related life involves different situations when people must choose to 'get along' or 'get ahead.'

While 'getting along,' one tends to cooperate and seek approval, and their main priority is maintaining relationships. To 'get ahead,' people take the initiative, compete, and seek results. Normally, people try to 'get ahead' and 'get along' depending on the situation. However, there are differences in personality and the ability of a person to 'get along' and 'get ahead.'

Those who have tendencies of 'getting along' more frequently are usually perceived as friendly, collaborative, helpful, and people-oriented and are considered good team players. Those with tendencies of 'getting ahead' are known as results-oriented, demonstrate initiative and motivation to achieve, and are usually perceived as visionary and leading. The study demonstrated that the highest-performing employees at Hostinger tend to identify themselves with the 'get-ahead' personality type.

Looking just at these results, it might seem that the highest-performing employees are bad team players who do not care about others and act more like individual contributors. However, the data from the interviews demonstrated that most of the highest-performing employees emphasize the importance of teamwork, good relations, and collaboration. Nevertheless, they also stress the team must be composed of strong, motivated, and smart people. The repeating subtheme among group A subjects was how colleagues who do not express the same level of motivation and performance demotivate them.

Lower-performing colleagues might even be perceived as a hindrance to achieving the result as they need more time. Participant A7 noted, "If my teammates' performance level were lower, it would mean that I would have to spend a lot more time micromanaging …, and that would slow down our work and decisions."

Thus, if the lower-performing employees stand in the way between the highest-performing employees and the results, they choose to 'get ahead'. Also, as participants demonstrated a high interest in learning and developing, it might be the case that the highest-performing employees perceive lower-performing people as hard to learn from. As one of the participants (P4a) highlighted: "When you are among strong people, you become stronger yourself." Literature confirms that the highest-performing employees are frustrated if their learning agenda is disturbed.

Business orientation?

The study’s results demonstrated that the highest-performing employees identify themselves as able to achieve results that positively influence the business. To achieve significant results for the business, one needs to understand which tasks are more important and be better at planning, prioritizing, and setting goals.

While talking about their performance process, the highest-performing employees gave credit to the ability to see the bigger picture. Moreover, they emphasized the importance of decision-making/task execution with the benefit of the business in mind over personal gain. The repeating theme was related to how they care about customers and the company's results. One of the participants remarked, “I care and … understand that at Hostinger, we are a business and work for our customers … When you look at a job just as income … you do things that benefit you, but not the customer.”

Self-efficacy as the mechanism for coping with unclarity and complexity

The interviews revealed that the highest-performing employees demonstrate high self-efficacy (a “can-do” attitude) and feeling in control. Self-efficacy is defined as individual judgment and belief in one’s capability to achieve a required result. Self-efficacy engenders the internal feeling that one is capable and that additional effort will grant success. If one expects the extra effort to bring desirable results, they feel more motivated.

The results of the interviews also demonstrated that the highest-performing employees emphasize the importance of skill variety (ability to use multiple skills and talents to perform a job), task identity (ability to own a “whole" task from start to finish), and task significance (to what extent a person's work impacts the organization or external environment) for their performance. Task identity and significance are closely related to the ability to cope with complex tasks and solve problems with unclear outcomes. If this ability is notably expressed in the person, one naturally wants more task identity and significance in one’s job.?

It appears that self-efficacy is a meaningful prognostic factor of performance for every phase of task complexity. Perceptions of higher self-efficacy might cause the development of better strategies on how to cope with complex demands. Moreover, perceived learning efficacy is also thought to influence how efficiently one will acquire the knowledge needed to solve complex tasks.

It is important to mention the reciprocal connection between self-efficacy and performance. It means that the evaluation of the initial performance will influence self-efficacy for future performance. The highest-performing employees are seemingly engaged in a positive upward spiral where self-efficacy results in better performance, and better performance increases self-efficacy. It corresponds with the study's findings as most of the participants from group A used their previous success as a grant to succeed in the future.?

Recommendations for hiring the highest-performing employees

One way to increase the highest-performing workforce is through careful selection during the hiring process. The study's results suggest that the selection process should include questions assessing the person's ambition, striving for achievement and influence, self-efficacy, feeling in control, and attitude towards colleagues.

A person’s ambition and striving for achievement and influence can be evaluated by asking questions about their motivation profile and their previous job experience and achievement history. The CV screening and interviews for mid/senior positions should include the search for reputational effects of ambition (e.g., quickly climbed the career ladder at previous companies, achieved specific results in complex projects).?

Self-efficacy could be best assessed with situational questions. For example: Can you tell me about a time when you faced a difficult challenge? How did you feel, and what steps did you take? How do you feel when you get complex and unclear tasks? When do you feel more motivated: when you have a list of clear tasks or when you are assigned to a complex project and need to sort out where to begin and what to do next??

Another way is to ask questions about confidence straight away, for example: Do you trust your ability to learn new things or master new skills? Do you feel confident in your abilities and decisions?

However, don’t mix up self-efficacy with self-esteem. Self-efficacy represents the “can-do” attitude, while high self-esteem represents an overall sense of self-worth. People with high self-efficacy can still be humble.?

A candidate’s attitude towards colleagues can be easily assessed by asking: What expectations do you have from your future colleagues and team? The answer should include expectations to be surrounded by strong, motivated, and smart colleagues to learn from them and grow. Answers that focus solely on team relationships and good vibes in the team should be considered carefully.?

It would also be beneficial to assess how the person can see the bigger picture through situational questions, which would evaluate their performance process. From this study interview example, these questions could sound as follows: What influences your ability to achieve high performance?; What do you do differently (better) than others when performing???

Examples of other questions that could trigger sharing:?

• What do you think are the key drivers of your performance?
• What are the workplace factors that can reduce your performance?
• What makes you perform better than others??
• What influences your ability to achieve high performance?

Recommendations for retaining the highest-performing employees

1. While teamwork and collaboration are important factors, being among colleagues who can perform at the same level is another necessary attribute of the highest-performing employees’ performance. Underperformers demotivate them and can bring about the need to change their team or the organization. Thus, it is crucial to carefully assemble teams and ensure that the highest-performing employees would have at least a few colleagues of the same level in the team. One way to do it is to continue talent management programs such as the Successors' evaluation project as it can bring valuable information. It not only helps to identify the highest performing employees but also to spot underperformers and solve their performance issues.
2. The study's findings revealed that the highest-performing employees had expressed ambition as their intrinsic motivator. Results also demonstrated that they feel ownership and in control of their career path. These findings suggest that the highest-performing employees might have turnover intentions if the career path in the company does not align with their intended direction. Therefore, it is crucial to connect personal goals with organizational ones and carefully craft career plans to ensure they align with the person's expectations.?
3. The highest-performing employees demonstrated self-efficacy and motivation to deal with complex tasks. Naturally, dealing with complexity might increase the possibility of making a mistake. As the relationship between self-efficacy and performance is reciprocal, it is important not to break the upward spiral in which the highest-performing employees operate. One way to do it is to create a culture where learning from mistakes is emphasized as another possibility to learn. The learning-from-mistakes culture increases interpersonal risk-taking and enhances the team's psychological safety.?
4. During the interviews, the highest performing employees highlighted the importance of task identity, task significance, skill variety, and other components of the Job characteristic model proposed by Hackman & Oldham (see the picture below). The recommendation is for managers to follow this framework and create job characteristics that would translate into critical psychological states that would cause further high performance.?

Recommendations on how to increase the performance of other employees??

1. The highest-performing employees identified that they see the bigger picture better than others in their performance process. Thus it is important for managers to explain to their team members the bigger picture of where the organization is moving, how each task contributes to the higher organizational goals, and help to prioritize tasks based on their importance.?
2. Goal setting is considered one of the most impactful interventions for performance increase. Goals show direction and help develop strategies. Goals help keep persistence (similar to the effects of ambition and striving for achievement) and also help focus attention (similar to how self-efficacy helps control attentional resources). Although goals clarify what is needed to achieve, managers should assist personal goal setting by trying to give as much context as possible and by explaining the bigger picture. After developing goals, managers should assist in developing a strategy to achieve these goals at the task level by helping to divide complex tasks into several iterations with the smallest manageable chunks. This might dismantle unclarity and complexity. A person might feel more self-efficacy to complete smaller tasks that are clear, and motivation should increase because when one expects that effort will bring the desirable results, the goals are more motivating. As the relationship between self-efficacy and performance is a reciprocal process, if a person achieves the results of the first iteration, they feel a sense of achievement. If this sense of achievement is supported by timely recognition, this might result in even better self-efficacy during the next iteration.?