> If you just do a general cut across the board based on 'opinions' how do you know that the ones that are left are the useful ones that will keep you lean?
This is hard. Which is why you identify obvious outliers first. It's much easier to identify obvious slackers and top engineers who sell their soul for your company (again, not a good thing, but for the sake of the argument -- and realism -- we're forgoing ethics here) than it is to identify lower-than-average or higher-than-average employees who are much closer to the median.
Next, a company looking for saving costs would be looking at top-earning employees with a long tenure. There is most likely not a lot of fat to trim here, but the profits could outweigh the risks.
If you're looking to increase productivity and profits only, you'd also have a look at non-value-producing employees, or those who introduce friction. These employees may add to a company's culture by providing equality strategies or acceptance groups in strong economic times, which in turn could also attract more employees with a similar culture fit, but money is scarce now and shareholders want profits, so they must go. I've seen this happen first hand.
This is hard. Which is why you identify obvious outliers first. It's much easier to identify obvious slackers and top engineers who sell their soul for your company (again, not a good thing, but for the sake of the argument -- and realism -- we're forgoing ethics here) than it is to identify lower-than-average or higher-than-average employees who are much closer to the median.
Next, a company looking for saving costs would be looking at top-earning employees with a long tenure. There is most likely not a lot of fat to trim here, but the profits could outweigh the risks.
If you're looking to increase productivity and profits only, you'd also have a look at non-value-producing employees, or those who introduce friction. These employees may add to a company's culture by providing equality strategies or acceptance groups in strong economic times, which in turn could also attract more employees with a similar culture fit, but money is scarce now and shareholders want profits, so they must go. I've seen this happen first hand.