The last month I’ve given a talk entitled “Do More with Less”in a number of cities across the country. In the talk, I offer 13 ways agencies can “Do More with Less.”
What’s interesting is the #1 most popular idea I present is always “Fire the C Team”
My simple thinking is this: We can no longer afford to keep unproductive government workers on the payroll. There is simply too much work to do & too little budget. We should double our effort to put unperforming workers on performance improvement plans and if they do not improve, fire them.
Netflix represents this philosophy perfectly in their Culture document (a document so important that Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook said “may well be the most important document ever to come out of the Valley”).
In this document, they discuss the Keeper Test where each quarter their managers look at all their employees and ask “Which of my people if they told me they were leaving, would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?” They give raises to the folks they’d fight for and the other people get a generous severance to leave now so they can open a slot to try to find a start in that role.
What do you think of the Keeper Test?
Should government fire the C Team?
How would you deal with poor performers if it was up to you?
More GovLoop Resources
- GovLoop Guide to Workforce Planning
- GovLoop Infographic – How Telework Makes Better Bosses
- GovLoop’s Leadership Hub
Want More GovLoop Content? Sign Up For Email Updates