Coaching skills: Developing high performers before they plateau

Many managers pour their coaching energy into team members who are struggling. It makes sense. That's where the pressure sits. It also means your best talent, the people consistently hitting their targets, can go months without a development conversation.

That's a mistake. High performers still need coaching — just not the same kind you're giving the new guys.

Why your best people get overlooked

Most often, capable employees don't ask for help. They don't miss deadlines, and they don't need constant surveillance, so they slip down the priority list. Those are the moments when they're most likely to disengage, coast or start looking elsewhere for the challenge they're not getting from you.

Strong employees flatline not because they lost ability, but because nobody asked what they wanted to nail down next. If you leave it unchecked, competence turns into repetition, and repetition then becomes boredom.

Shift from correcting performance to expanding capability

Coaching an underperforming employee usually revolves around fixing a specific issue. Coaching a capable employee is about developing what's already working. Have a chat to find out what they want to get better at, where they're relying on the same one or two strengths and what a more advanced role would actually demand of them.

I've seen these questions change the conversation — for the employee and their manager. Chats that assume competence instead of a problem make people more willing to be honest about what's missing.

Ask before you advise

With capable employees, it's tempting to accept whatever they tell you and move on. When the results speak for themselves, why wouldn't you? Resist. Push a little further. Ask what they find hardest about their current role, or what they'd change if nothing were off limits. Give them room to think it through instead of intervening with your own ideas.

Build stretch, not just workload

A stretch opportunity doesn't mean assigning a higher volume of the same tasks. To stay engaged, capable employees need new problems to solve: leading a cross-functional project, mentoring someone more junior or making a call they've never had the authority to own before. Find a responsibility that's tied to where the business is heading and where the individual wants to go.

Feedback still matters, even when results are strong

It's easy to assume a high performer doesn't need feedback because the numbers look good. But strong results can hide blind spots. Those excellent at execution might avoid delegating, or someone great with clients might need a push on process execution. Say it directly. Accomplished people generally want an honest read, not just recognition.

Deloitte's 2026 Gen Z and Millennial Survey suggests this appetite for growth is already there, waiting to be tapped. 79% of Gen Zs and 75% of millennials in Australia say they're interested in a leadership role at some point. Only 6% of each group name leadership as their primary career goal. Much of that shortfall isn't in fixing underperformers — it's in failing to develop the people already doing well.

Where to start

Think of one capable employee who hasn't had a development conversation in a while. Book time with them, and open by asking where they want to be in 12 months. Agree on one stretch opportunity that builds a capability they don't currently have.

Coaching high performers keeps them growing, and it keeps them here.

If you want a practical approach for these conversations, our Coaching for Performance course equips managers with the skills to coach confidently, including employees who ask for it least.