A-Player Building Mission: The mission to cultivate top-tier employees.
Transform ordinary teams into champions with a course that will turn managers and HR into "people refiners." Learn techniques for finding, developing, and retaining A-Players (Grade A employees) using practical tools.
- Description
- Curriculum
- FAQ
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Is your organization facing these issues?
- The heavy workload is concentrated on just a few people. While other employees were working sluggishly.
- Star employees are resigning one after another. Because I feel like I work harder than others but get the same compensation.
- The supervisor doesn't know how to develop the team. They just keep giving orders day after day, but they can't bring out the true potential of their subordinates.
As an organizational development (OD) and human resource (HRD) consultant, I can say that sustainable organizational growth isn't achieved by having just one brilliant manager, but by having A-players, or top-tier employees, who are the core driving force behind the work.
The online course “A-Player Building Mission” is designed to address key pain points in modern organizations by transforming the role of managers and supervisors from “controllers” to “builders and mentors of talent.” This course will help you understand the systematic process of identifying, developing, and retaining top-tier employees, building teams ready to adapt to change and drive the organization towards its goals.
A-Player Building Mission: The mission to cultivate top-tier employees.
- 1 Download the learning materials: A-Player Building Mission: The Mission to Create Top-Grade Employees.
- 2 Lesson 1: The A-Player DNA - Decoding A-Grade Employees
- 3 Lesson 2: Talent Identification - Identify the Top-Performing Employees.
- 4 Lesson 3: The Coaching Blueprint - Shaping through Effective Coaching
- 5 Lesson 4: High-Impact Feedback - Feedback for improvement, not for hurtful feelings.
- 6 Lesson 5: Motivation & Engagement: Ignite the passion within talented individuals.
- 7 Lesson 6: The Retention Strategy – How to retain talented employees and prevent them from leaving.
- 8 Lesson 7: Overcoming Burnout: Protecting Top-Performing Employees from Burnout
- 9 Lesson 8: The A-Player Culture - Creating a system where talented people want to be.
- 10 Knowledge Checks: A-Player Building Mission - The mission to cultivate top-tier employees.
If a company has a limited budget and cannot afford to pay high salaries like the larger companies in the market, how can it attract and retain top-tier employees?
Competitive salaries are just a "ticket", not the only reason top talent stays. Modern A-grade employees are driven by very high intrinsic motivation. Medium and small-sized companies can leverage their structural advantages with these three strategies:
• Speed & Autonomy: Empowering quick decision-making and eliminating red tape, which is what top talent hates most in large organizations.
• High Visibility & Impact: In smaller companies, their work is directly visible to senior management and creates a clear impact on the business, giving them a sense of purpose.
• Customized Growth: Allows for more flexible career design and assignment of challenging projects (Stretch Assignments), without being constrained by the rigid structure of a large organization.
• Speed & Autonomy: Empowering quick decision-making and eliminating red tape, which is what top talent hates most in large organizations.
• High Visibility & Impact: In smaller companies, their work is directly visible to senior management and creates a clear impact on the business, giving them a sense of purpose.
• Customized Growth: Allows for more flexible career design and assignment of challenging projects (Stretch Assignments), without being constrained by the rigid structure of a large organization.
Would using a tool like the 9-Box Grid to select Grade A employees lead to problems like political infighting, jealousy, or discouragement among Grade B and C employees?
This problem arises when an organization uses this system in a non-transparent manner or publicly announces the evaluation results. It's important to understand that "the 9-Box Grid is an internal calibration tool for management and HR, not a public scoreboard.""
What organizations need to communicate to all employees is "clear and tangible Key Performance Indicators (KPIs/OKRs) and Core Values." Everyone needs to know how to grow, and supervisors must use the results from the 9-Box Grid to create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for all employee groups equally. For example, nurture Group B employees to become Group A employees and support Group C employees to improve, rather than prioritizing only the best and neglecting others.
What organizations need to communicate to all employees is "clear and tangible Key Performance Indicators (KPIs/OKRs) and Core Values." Everyone needs to know how to grow, and supervisors must use the results from the 9-Box Grid to create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for all employee groups equally. For example, nurture Group B employees to become Group A employees and support Group C employees to improve, rather than prioritizing only the best and neglecting others.
In reality, line managers are usually already overwhelmed with their regular workload. Where would they find the time to coach or create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for their subordinates?
This is a mental trap called "Busy Fool Syndrome." The more supervisors say they don't have time to mentor people, the more work piles up on them, leaving no time for strategic thinking. This course therefore focuses on the concept of "Micro-Coaching" and the use of the 70:20:10 Framework.
Coaching doesn't need to be a formal hour-long session every week; it can be done through short 5-10 minute conversations during just-in-time feedback. And a good Individual Development Plan (IDP) isn't about sending someone to a training workshop, but about "transforming routine work into a development tool" (on-the-job development), such as assigning them a new project. Therefore, it's about managing regular work, not adding new tasks.
Coaching doesn't need to be a formal hour-long session every week; it can be done through short 5-10 minute conversations during just-in-time feedback. And a good Individual Development Plan (IDP) isn't about sending someone to a training workshop, but about "transforming routine work into a development tool" (on-the-job development), such as assigning them a new project. Therefore, it's about managing regular work, not adding new tasks.
If a top-performing employee, once a star of the team, experiences a shocking drop in performance, how should you handle it to avoid causing them resentment or leading to their resignation?
Don't jump to conclusions or blame, because high-achieving individuals often already experience high levels of stress and pressure. What the leader needs to do immediately is have a one-on-one conversation, using the SBI Model, to honestly and non-judgmentally highlight the declining performance.
Next, work together to identify the "root cause," which usually stems from three factors: burnout (being overloaded with work), personal issues (personal/family problems), or role mismatch (changes in the work context but inability to utilize existing skills). When a supervisor reaches out to help and shows understanding during periods of poor performance, it helps build engagement and wins over employees, making them more loyal A-players than before.
Next, work together to identify the "root cause," which usually stems from three factors: burnout (being overloaded with work), personal issues (personal/family problems), or role mismatch (changes in the work context but inability to utilize existing skills). When a supervisor reaches out to help and shows understanding during periods of poor performance, it helps build engagement and wins over employees, making them more loyal A-players than before.
How do you deal with "Brilliant Jerks" (highly talented individuals who produce excellent work but exhibit toxic behavior and constantly quarrel)? Firing them would harm the company's profits, but keeping them would cripple the team?
Let me emphasize that "no matter how good the performance, no one has the privilege to destroy company culture and teamwork." Allowing Brilliant Jerks to remain in the system long-term will cause other Grade A employees who love the team to gradually leave, and Grade B employees will stop developing because they will think, "Just because I'm a good worker, I can behave however I want.""
The approach involves a strategic, tough approach: direct communication (radical candor), highlighting the behavior's impact on the team, setting clear behavioral key performance indicators (KPIs) alongside job goals, and signaling that the behavior will affect promotion and bonuses if there's no improvement within a specified timeframe. The organization must be prepared to "ask them to leave" to preserve the overall team image.
The approach involves a strategic, tough approach: direct communication (radical candor), highlighting the behavior's impact on the team, setting clear behavioral key performance indicators (KPIs) alongside job goals, and signaling that the behavior will affect promotion and bonuses if there's no improvement within a specified timeframe. The organization must be prepared to "ask them to leave" to preserve the overall team image.
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Course details
Lectures 9
Video 8 lessons
Quizzes 1
Level Build upon
There is a certificate upon completion of the course.
Unlimited re-learning for life.
Access your classes from any device, including smartphones, tablets, computers, and smart TVs.
Basic info
- Differentiate and screen employees. To accurately identify who has the potential to rise to the top. Grade A employees
- Use coaching and feedback techniques. Effective in motivating employees to unlock their full potential.
- Creating motivation and engagement. To hold back the heart. A-Player Stay with the organization for a long time.
- Workload Management Maintaining balance prevents burnout among high-performing employees.
- Succession Planning And create a corporate culture that fosters the growth of talented individuals.
Intended audience
- Middle management and line managers. The goal is to develop the potential of team members and reduce the burden of daily task assignments.
- Human Resources Directors (HRBP) That requires strategic tools and approaches for talent management.
- New Supervisors For those who want to learn how to manage people and build high-performing teams.
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