I recently attended a leadership workshop where one of the topics was performance management in the 21st century. We learnt that the best organizations just keep it simple.

In 2009 Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, posted a slide deck titled “Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility.” It was a 124-page ode to the culture that he wanted to embed in the organization. In case you have lived under a rock in the last 10 years, Netflix is an internationally available service that distributes original and acquired films and television shows. According to publicly available data the company was generating $33.7 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2023 and had 270 million subscribers at the end of March 2024, making it the biggest on demand video streaming service globally.

All that growth has been powered by its employees, none of whom are given key performance indicators to be measured against. The 124 page culture slide deck has been viewed 17.3 million times and is publicly available. It has been studied by many companies and one of the key human resource cultural tenets that have generated much interest is the “Keeper Test”.

The culture deck has now been reduced to one page on their website. It says, “To strengthen our dream team, our managers use a “keeper test” for each of their people: if a team member was leaving for a similar role at another company, would the manager try to keep them? Those who do not pass the keeper test (i.e. their manager would not fight to keep them) are given a generous severance package so we can find someone even better for that position—making an even better dream team.”

If you go to Youtube you will find company sponsored videos of Netflix employees talking about this pivotal employee management tool and how it has affected the way they work. To the employees, the Keeper Test is a simple methodology to have conversations continuously throughout the year, so that there are no surprises come end of the year. Pretty much like a couple in a relationship checking in with an “I care about you” affirmation every now and then. In the best selling relationship advice book by comedian Steve Harvey titled Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, the author equates dating to a fishing exercise:

“When a man goes fishing, it’s either for sport or sustenance. He will either admire the fish and toss it back or take it home to eat. The same options apply in the dating world. When a man meets a woman, he’ll either catch her for sport and move on or take her home for good. Because men have the fishing pole, you may think they’re in control of whether you become a sports fish or a keeper. But you are in control.”

The same can be said about the employee. He is in control of whether his boss wants to keep him or not, as it is his productivity and the way he shows up that determines his desirability as a valued team resource. In the Netflix culture, if you don’t show up well, they pay you a severance package and ask you to take a walk. The Netflix website makes it succinctly clear: “Succeeding on a dream team is about being effective, not about working hard. Sustained “B” performance, despite an “A” for effort, gets a severance package with respect. Sustained “A” performance, even with a more modest level of effort, gets rewarded.”

The website further adds that “Managers communicate frequently with each member of their team so surprises are rare. We also encourage employees to check in with their manager at any time by asking, “How hard would you work to change my mind if I were thinking of leaving?”

That question is a loaded question. It can go south quickly or north slowly. If your manager answers you, “Actually I wouldn’t do anything,” then it is time to put Chat GPT through your dusty resumé.

The problem in this part of the world is that given the litiginous nature of employees, managers are loathe to have such conversations in case they are viewed to be building a case of “constructive dismissal”. This would be a situation where a non-performing employee is encouraged to resign, does so, and then turns around and sues the employer that they were effectively wrongfully dismissed which is something that Kenyan courts have often upheld.

It takes a brave manager to have the Keeper Test conversation with their staff. It takes an even braver employee to ask the same question of their manager.

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X/Twitter: @CarolMusyoka