Many organizations and people believe that productivity is distributed along a classic bell curve, also known as a normal distribution. In fact, performance management systems are often set up to have x% as top performers, the bulk of people as average performers and another y% as low performers.
However, studies have shown that productivity does not follow the classic bell curve distribution that one may imagine and that superstars can have a disproportionate impact on an organization.
Let’s start with an analogy. In sports, it’s easy to picture the difference between a Hall of Famer versus an All-Star versus an average player. The contributions of players like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant for their organizations were clearly understood.
With this mental image, how can hiring a superstar impact your organization?
Most are familiar with the 80/20 rule, also known as the “Pareto Principle”. That is, 80% of the results come from 20% of the activities. This concept holds true for employee performance as well. Numerous publications including The Harvard Business Review, Human Resource Management Review, and Journal of Management to name a few have documented that a high performer can deliver 400% more productivity than the average performer.
However, this claim only tells part of the story. The research behind this statement comes from a study first published in Personnel Psychology. It demonstrates that the further one is above the mean, the more productive they are. The difference can range from 200% all the way to 2,500% at the very top of the range.
Specifically, this concept is illustrated in this Power-Law Distribution chart. On the far left of the chart you will see that there are a small number of people, the Hyper Performers or Superstars, who deliver most of the performance. Moving to the right, we see performance decline as we move toward the “Average Performers” and further decline as we approach the “Lower Performers”. This phenomenon is known as a Power-Law Distribution or “Long Tail”.
In the Power Curve most people fall below the mean (slightly). This is because the contributions of the few Hyper Performers increase the mean (average) performance of the entire organization. Consequently, most people perform below the overall average.
Statistically, roughly 10-15% of the population are above the mean (often far above the mean), a large population are slightly below the mean and a small group are far below the mean.
So, what’s the implication for hiring?
Simply put, if your organization is intent on beating the competition, growing revenue and market share, reducing cost and improving productivity, you need to focus on hiring the top 10-15%, the superstars.
The second step is to then, simply put them in the right roles and provide them with the infrastructure, support and autonomy to soar so that they may elevate the entire organization.
About the author: Jeff Kleino is the Managing Partner, Health Career Talent, an Executive Search Firm specializing in helping hospitals and health systems attract and hire the top 10-15% of the candidate pool on a consistent basis.