It’s cliché to have a group of team members where one person (the disciplined A-type nerd) does all the work so that the whole team succeeds. We’ve seen it in movies: the popular jock threatens to steal lunch money if the reject doesn’t do his chemistry homework. Or the “It” girl flirts her way to get the “nobody” who has a crush on her to write her research paper. It’s a world of doers and the types that sit back and watch (or delegate and watch). In business, we see high-performers and low-performers, even those somewhere in-between.
Let’s look at each of these.
The High-Performer
Believes: Maximum effort brings greater reward.
Who They Are: This will be your lion. They are leaders, ambitious, and act more like their own CRO of their own schedule. Not only do they say yes to being involved in new projects, they create them.
What They Love: Meticulous planning, change, busyness (but the right kind of work), working with other high-performers, action, execution, and analysis.
What They Dislike: Low performance from others, needing approval (or red tape), meaningless tasks, slow moments or lulls.
What to Watch Out For:
- When bored, they could begin to find new work or have thoughts about quitting.
- If rejected, they may become prideful and vengeful.
- When working with low-performers, may add pressure to team members, micro-manage, and become impatient.
- Can make a problem out of nothing just to have something to do.
Why You Need Them: Every business needs that manager who can see all to get to the bottom-line and be analytical to make new strategic moves when necessary, based on data-driven results.
The Low-Performer
Believes: Work is something we all need to do, but it isn’t everything.
Who They Are: This person may do a killer job with the task assigned to them, but don’t expect them to grow their skills or aim for a higher position with self-will. They will clock in, do the job for the day, and clock out. Checking out of their work life is easy for them because their goal is to fulfill their personal values over career. If they are part-time, they’re more likely to decline any more hours, volunteer work, or extra-curricula activities unless made mandatory. They feel fulfilled by completing easy tasks.
What They Love: Fulfilling a task that requires minimal effort and little critical thinking, someone giving them orders that are clear cut, contract work versus a regular schedule, making their own schedule, backstage work
What They Dislike: The limelight, meetings, anyone misjudging them as lazy, pressure, high-stress environments, busyness
What to Watch Out For:
- With plenty of time on their hands and less demanding work, procrastination may occur.
- Without working on priority tasks, these teammates may feel neglected or go quiet, making them at risk for feeling isolated or unimportant.
- If “forgotten”, they are likely to neglect tasks or deem them as not important, even if they are.
- Can make demands for more pay, more time off, or more perks overall.
Why You Need Them:
Tedious and mundane tasks still make a business run. High-achievers can become bored and dismissive if given these necessary evils to work on. Low-performers find great meaning in serving in a supportive role and are more likely to excel with this kind of work, which also gives them pride to stay with you for the long run, which reduces costly turn-overs.
Mid-Performers
Believes: Input equals output which can vary depending on energy.
Who They Are: The best of both worlds and probably the most balanced. These teammates will take on any task you ask of them and do an incredible job. They will also poke at you for more work or for feedback on what new skills you’d like them to improve. They seek feeling valued but never overstep their role or boundaries.
What They Love: Communication, organized leadership, feedback, group projects, solo projects, side-hustles, details
What They Dislike: Silence, being taken advantage of, not being included, micro-management
What to Watch Out For:
- If given negative feedback, may do damage control but do not wish to have their schedule made for them. They prefer to meet the deadline with their own time-blocking.
- When given assignments, they do best with deadlines but do not wish to have their schedule made for them. They prefer to meet the deadline with their own time-blocking.
- May provide low-quality work if they say yes to multiple projects.
- Can overshadow the growth potential of other team members because they say yes so often.
Why You Need Them:
A business needs reliable people who patiently await their next assignment. When an important task pops up that no high-performer can take on, your mid-performer is your second-best option – they will make the time.
There’s a great section in “The 80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch to help you and your teammates discover which “performer” they are. For instance, they could prefer to be just the employee who works with a team, or they could be someone who wants to own a business with no one else helping at all.
As you can see, there is no right or wrong team member. Sure, you can screen applicants in an interview to find what you’re looking for, but don’t just let someone go without learning more about the work they will perform best. We all need the highs, lows, and middle performers to build a steady foundation and grow business.
Checkout our blog: How to Work with Different Performing Types