What Sets High Performers Apart—And How to Develop More of Them

In today’s performance-driven world, skill training is often the default solution for improving productivity. While technical training matters, it’s only part of the equation. True productivity depends not just on what people know, but on whether and how they apply that knowledge.

This is where best practices, robust competency frameworks, performance gap analyses, and targeted development make the difference. It’s not enough to build skills—you have to activate them.

When employees are supported in recognizing and using their capabilities effectively, training becomes transformation—and performance becomes a competitive advantage.

Skills vs. Capability

Skills are only valuable when paired with the right capabilities. In other words, knowing how to do the work matters little if someone lacks the ability and initiative to apply those skills effectively.

In most organizations, productivity follows the 80/20 rule:

• Approximately 80% of employees are reliable contributors—handling the day-to-day with consistency.

  
  

• Roughly 20% consistently outperform—often delivering two to three times the output of their peers.

This signals a vast reservoir of untapped potential—one capable of elevating organizational performance to entirely new levels.

Case Study: Unlocking Performance Inside a Major Manufacturer

To understand what truly differentiates high performers, we partnered with a major manufacturing company to analyze productivity across its workforce. After identifying top performers, we developed a detailed map of their daily routines. Because they worked in similar roles, their routines were remarkably aligned—revealing internal characteristics not taught in training, but developed over time through the values and personal standards shaped by influential role models:

• A strong work ethic

• High standards

• Attention to detail

• Accountability

• Goal orientation

• Problem-solving ability

These aren’t check-the-box competencies. They reflect deep-rooted behaviors that are difficult to instill, and even harder to replicate.

In this organization, high performers made up just 23% of the workforce, yet drove a disproportionate share of business results.

Hidden Talent

Once we understood what defined high performers, we used targeted assessments to identify those same traits across the broader workforce.

The results were eye-opening:

63% of those assessed possessed the potential for top-level performance

68% of performance gaps were concentrated in a single area: problem-solving

A targeted assessment revealed that 63% of employees had the potential for top-level performance. Notably, 68% of the performance gaps showed up in problem-solving—which, at this level of the organization, meant being able to spot patterns, connect the dots, and troubleshoot effectively.

These insights prompted a shift away from their standard training programs toward one of assessment-informed capability-building.

Coaching to Activate Potential

To unlock this hidden capability, the organization implemented a structured coaching program focused on high-potential, average performers.

The goal: translate potential into consistent performance by instilling the same attributes and standards that defined top-tier talent.

Within just three months, the coaching initiative delivered measurable results:

91% of employees with productivity below 80% improved through coaching—achieving an average performance increase of 12%

Beyond productivity gains, the initiative reduced scrap and downtime and improved retention among coached employees—delivering a combined financial impact approaching $13 million.

91% of employees with productivity below 80% improved through coaching—achieving an average performance increase of 12%.

These kinds of gains don’t come from surface-level solutions.  They came from unlocking capability that already existed—hidden in plain sight.

The Biggest Takeaway

Most organizations are sitting on a deep well of untapped potential. It often goes unnoticed—not because it doesn’t exist, but because traditional training and evaluation methods aren’t designed to uncover it.

Skill-building is important, but it isn’t enough. What truly sets high performers apart is intrinsic capability—traits like discipline, accountability, and problem-solving. These are rarely taught in formal programs, yet they drive consistent, day-to-day effectiveness.

That’s why talent discovery and selection are so critical. Hiring for core traits and future potential—and assessing those same qualities within your existing workforce—is just as essential as hiring for experience or technical skills.