Often you wonder if your employees are good or bad, or can they work well.  In larger companies it is easier for people to hide.  This as a business owner, a manager or even a shareholder is a problem.  The best way to solve this, make everyone and the work they do visible.  The more visible everyone is, their work will speak for themselves.   If work is shown to others to see, it will surface whether or not they are a good employee or not.  Good employees wont want to hide, they would want to stand out and help themselves get ahead.

Now I wrote that in 2016 I am rethinking this one.  Not because I think it is wrong, but I am wondering if this is appropriate in every situation.  There are times where the sum of the parts is not greater than the whole (putting superstar together fails) and sometimes the opposite (putting together a bunch of misfits and they are better.)

This means as a manager you need to think, understand the situation and decide once you shine the light on someone, do they work better in a team? Is it that person that keeps the team going? Does he/she have soft skills that somehow make up for technical skills?  Shining light may show someone as who they are, but now you need to understand the next step.

Originally Published in Feb of 2016, Updated in December of 2020

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain, I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  I do read all feedback, I mostly wont post any of them.