You’ve probably heard the term ‘A-Player’ thrown around ad nauseum, but has anyone ever told you what it actually means?

Uber-CEO Jack Welsh took the concept of the A-Player into the mainstream business vernacular with his book, From the Gut. In this bestselling memoir, Welsh describes his system of evaluating talent:

“The A’s are the people who are filled with passion, committed to making things happen, open to ideas from anywhere, and blessed with lots of runway ahead of them. They have the ability to energize not only themselves, but everyone who comes into contact with them. They make business productive and fun at the same time.” (Welch 2001)

While that defintion describes the results that A-Players achieve, it doesn’t compensate for the impact of compensation.  Let’s say that I have two identical positions at my company - exact same role, same daily tasks, same expected results - and the position carries a target salary midpoint of $75,000.  If I pay Employee #1 $75,000, and Employee #2 $45,000, and their results are both outstanding, who is the A-Player?  Based on Welsh’s definition, they’re both A-Players.  But what if Employee #2, at $45,000 per year is delivering A-Player results in a $75,000 per year job?  Is Employee #1 really an A-Player, or am I simply getting a great bargain as an employer for Employee #2?  Am I overpaying for Employee #1?

At this point I refer you, faithful reader, to my preferred definition of an A-Player, which was, coincidentally, coined by Bradford Smart, PhD of Topgrading fame.

“An A-Player is one who qualifies among the top 10% of those available for a position at the appropriate level of salary.” (Smart 1999)

Do you see why this definition is so powerful? It not only mandates top performance, but it also forces you as the hiring manager to choose the level of A-Player that you need, in dollar terms.

The implications of this definition are profound.  Rather than simply declaring, “I need to hire someone” and then hiring the best person available, this approach requires you to modify your expectations according to the salary that you’re offering.  An A-Player at a salary of $45,000 is a very different person from an A-Player at $75,000.  To put it another way, an A-Player at $45,000 may become a B-Player or C-Player when given a raise, unless they step up their game accordingly.  In the above example, if you have two employees delivering “outstanding” results, and one is at $45K, and the other at $75K, then who’s the true A-Player?  It’s the $45K employee.  As a business owner or manager, your expectations should rise in lock-step with increases in salary.  Failing to do so is the chief reason why so many early-stage companies are clogged with people who carry high salaries but don’t perform accordingly.

If the concept seems fuzzy, go back and re-read the last paragraph. It’s a concept you have to master before moving any further.

I want to teach you to think of top talent as the intersection of salary and ability. For every salary, there is top talent available. The question for you, as the business leader, is to determine which level of salary gets you the right level of top talent.
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