Who's our top 20%?
We can categorise our employees into three basic groups:
Top Producers – about 20%.
Average Producers – about 60%.
Non-Producers – about 20%.
Top Producers
The top 20% of team members make a big difference for our top performance. They really help push the team with great results. In addition, they compensate for the low performers who are not creating results. This team member always gets it right. He or she is the one we know you can rely on. And they never cause any problems or demand any of our management time. Yep, you know who they are on your team.
Average Producers
In the middle, we find the 60% who are average producers. Their productivity depends on how well management handles them. These team members need to be encouraged and motivated from time to time. Top performance people don't need these extra shots of motivation. They bring their own motivation with them to the job. The job itself is highly motivating to them. You know a few of these as well.
Non-Producers
Then we have the least productive 20%. These mostly comprise the erratic performers. These team members have no stability or consistence. They may produce results one month, but the next month is a bust. Such unpredictable people are the source of nearly all of the internal upsets and costly mistakes in a company. They are also the ones who take most of management's time and attention. They are usually easy to spot. You know who I’m referring to, the team member who did an excellent job one day, but the next, they never answer their phone or call in sick?
Protect The Top 20%
The team members that are at the very peak of top performance are the ones that demand very little of our attention. Do not neglect them. We do so at the risk of losing them to competitors. The main thing to watch out for, is that people who produce top results are subject to attack by certain types of non-performers. If there is some sort of conflict going on, look at the performance level of the people involved and protect those who are actually producing good results. Remember, you can always afford to get rid of poor performers and the rest of the group will produce better results.
So, we should hire a team members that have energy and drive. The effect will be to improve the overall power of the team and our top performance will excel.
The reverse of this concept is also true. When we remove a team member with lots of drive and experience, the whole team tends to move downwards towards poor performance.
Now, let’s look at poor performing team members. If we remove a low performing team member, the remaining group will move up and the team will improve but if we hire or keep a poor performing team member, the team performance will diminish.
This means that when we have a person who is not contributing to the team effort, and you take them out, it will benefit the productivity of the remaining team members. Of course, if we can replace that person with an effective employee, that will be even better.
However, I have learned from my own mistakes and saying:
“This person is non-productive, but I have no-one to replace them, so we have to keep them on”. Done it and I’ve also hired the wrong person because I needed to fill the position fast. Boy, oh boy, the team pretty much collapsed.
We can always afford to remove poor performers. And when we do, the rest of the group will produce better results. Top performance is actually jeopardised by leaving the poor performing team member in place.
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