3 ms·
I agree with most, if not all of this. However, my takeaway (what I learned) was the graph at the bottom. Ask hard question if someone ranks as mediocre for 8
by RogerL 13y ago
I agree with most, if not all of this.
However, my takeaway (what I learned) was the graph at the bottom. Ask hard question if someone ranks as mediocre for 8 quarters.
This is counter-intuitive, as most people are, by mathematical necessity, average within a standard deviation or two. Thus, shouldn't we expect our talent curves to be a bell curve?
But, mediocre to me might not be mediocre to you. If I have someone with enormous attention to detail but this position need a high degree of creativity and experimentation, that person might perform as mediocre. But you may have a position that needs that attention to detail. We can both shuffle our directs and change our team ratings from 3(out of 5) each, to 4 or more (where 4 is better).
I don't know how much I buy it, yet, but it is at least important to think about. To be clear, I don't buy into every company stating "we only hire rock stars" - we know that is statistically impossible, and so that gives me pause in regards to this advice.
Let's face it; it is a big risk these days to let somebody go that is performing okay, in the hopes of finding a great hire. Right now on the front page we have this article advocating letting people go, and another article warning how difficult it is to find and hire people. There is a bit of dissonance between the two, I find.
- mathattack 13y ago* Right now on the front page we have this article advocating letting people go, and another article warning how difficult it is to find and hire people. There is a bit of dissonance between the two, I find.* A lot depends on the company. Are you a Whatsapp with 55 engineers and $19 billion in market capital? Or are you Accenture, with $300k (give or take) in market cap per employee? Each has a very different take on the value per employee, what they pay them, and where on the superstar versus superteam spectrum they are. Overall a very good article. There are managers who clearly don't give a damn. They have to be Steve Jobs superstars to keep their people. On the flip side, you have to produce success to keep a team moving. I've had to replace managers who were well loved, but had angry clients due to a lack of results by their teams.
- mason55 13y ago> But, mediocre to me might not be mediocre to you. If I have someone with enormous attention to detail but this position need a high degree of creativity and experimentation, that person might perform as mediocre. But you may have a position that needs that attention to detail. We can both shuffle our directs and change our team ratings from 3(out of 5) each, to 4 or more (where 4 is better). This is the point of the upper left quadrant. If you feel like the person is good but in the wrong place then you look at yourself. Is your management style not working for them? Do they need to be in a different position?