Are you challenging the top 20 percent of your employees?

Are you challenging the top 20 percent of your employees?

Why do we focus on our top 20%? Simple: leverage. Your formal / informal leaders who get the job done drive most of your results. It doesn’t mean blow off your other employees (gag!), it just means that you need to prioritize your top 20% and make sure they are equipped (and encouraged!) to maximize results.


How do you decide who that top 20% is? This varies based on the organization and the job description, but at the top level we can come up with objective metrics like productivity, sales, customer satisfaction, etc., as well as subjective observations like leadership ability, creativity, “get-it-done” attitude, REAL team player (not the fake kind that just gets along well with everyone – team players don’t necessarily get along well with everyone), etc. You do need some criteria, since most of us can get suckered by obsequious behavior.

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