I’ve been hearing a lot about “the 1%” lately.  Instead of thinking about the 1% in terms of income/wealth disparity (another topic for another post), I’ve been thinking about the 1% in our organizations that are not getting the support and attention they deserve.

This may vary based on your organization, but HR typically gives a lot of attention to low potential and/or problem employee’s (the bottom 10%). We write and re-write policies,  develop Personal Improvement Plans to monitor and track behavior, provide coaching, etc;

On the opposite end of the spectrum  we also spend plenty of time with the top 10% of performers in our organizations. We provide specialized training, leadership training, company retreats, mentoring, etc;

There is a critical 1% that we may be overlooking.  The 1% I’m concerned with are those that are not the bottom 10% or the top 10%,  or even the middle B players (the solid,  reliable employee’s that are not superstars but still very valuable to an organization).

I’m talking about the 1% that just miss the “Super Star” cutoff.   These are the people who barely missed being included in the high potential category. In the past these employee’s would have still received many opportunities for growth:  mentoring and career pathing to name a couple.

If these employees are just steps away from being considered the top 10% what are we doing to keep them on board? What are we doing to improve their skills to get them into that top tier?

Take a look at the employee’s in the 1% group,  are they being slotted into a one-size fits all training system? Do they know their value to the company? Do you have them enrolled in a mentoring program or special projects that convey their value to the company (these can be formal or informal programs)?

Think of the time and effort you put into working with the top 10% or the bottom 10%. What is stopping you from taking 25% of that time and giving some much needed attention to the 1%?