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I read the book Topgrading a few years back, defined A-player relative to the position: "An ‘A’ player as defined by Topgraders is one who qualifies among the t
by jonmc12 12y ago
I read the book Topgrading a few years back, defined A-player relative to the position: "An ‘A’ player as defined by Topgraders is one who qualifies among the top 10% of talent for the compensation available for a position (any position)."
I think this concept has been understood for many years in industry. However, In startup land, its been ego-cized a bit through logic like "people are the most important assets of startups, therefor there are good people and bad people, only hire the good people". But this logic alone is open for misinterpretation because whether talking about "A-player" or "10xer", good is much for a function of ability of an organization to empower a person in a position.
On the other hand, there is a reality that certain individuals will be an "A-player" more consistently in more positions than other individuals.. so I believe there is some value to understanding how an individual's general behaviors would, or would not, make them an A-player in specific positions. At the same time, its likely very difficult to deduce this kind of statement meaningfully unless the same person has worked with someone in multiple positions.
- bradsmart 12y agoGood points. In the 3rd edition of Topgrading I offer definitions of A, B, C across many competencies, but early in the book I say that the simplest way to think of A, B, C Players is high performer, adequate, low performer. I've asked 6,500 executives (in Topgrading Interviews) to characterize the teams they inherited and ended up with and they easily relate to high perfumer, adequate, low performer ... and the long explanation of "top 10%% can be avoided. These 3 categories work for executives or part time stockers. That said, over time companies get better and better "calibrated" and the requirements become stiffer; therefore, in 2014 clients think back to their designations 3 years ago and now put a higher percentage in the lower categories ... because is does take time/experience to accurately rate someone. Hope this helps!
- bradsmart 12y agoGood points. In the 3rd edition of Topgrading I offer definitions of A, B, C across many competencies, but early in the book I say that the simplest way to think of A, B, C Players is high performer, adequate, low performer. I've asked 6,500 executives (in Topgrading Interviews) to characterize the teams they inherited and ended up with and they easily relate to high perfumer, adequate, low performer ... and the long explanation of "top 10%% can be avoided. These 3 categories work for executives or part time stockers. That said, over time companies get better and better "calibrated" and the requirements become stiffer; therefore, in 2014 clients think back to their designations 3 years ago and now put a higher percentage in the lower categories ... because is does take time/experience to accurately rate someone. Hope this helps!