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How We Keep Talent Density High and Impact Higher at Gorgias

Learn how Gorgias builds high talent density through hiring, nurturing, addressing underperformance, and tracking key team metrics.

By Adeline Bodemer

0 min read . By Adeline Bodemer

TL;DR:

High talent density means a team where every member is highly skilled and performs at their peak. This creates a positive ripple effect, where talented individuals enhance each other's effectiveness and drive overall success.
Gorgias maintains high talent density by following three pillars: hire great talent, part ways with non-performers, and nurture your talent pool.
Train managers to share 100% honest feedback with direct reports. Honest feedback, performance improvement plans, and fair severance ensure a respectful and constructive approach to managing team dynamics.
Measure talent density with key metrics. These include performance scores over time, cross-evaluation reviews, regrettable attrition rates, and transparent promotions to ensure fairness and improvement.

At Gorgias, we’ve embraced the concept of high talent density, introduced by Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings in No Rules Rules, as a foundation of how we operate. The idea is simple: a team is at its best when every member is highly skilled and performing at their peak.

I’ll walk you through exactly how we’ve built a workplace that prioritizes talent density by breaking down what the concept means, how it shapes our hiring process, and how we keep Gorgias a rewarding environment to grow in.

What is high talent density?

High talent density refers to having a team where each member is highly skilled and performs at their best. When a group consists of top performers, their collective effectiveness increases. Hastings notes, "Talented people make one another more effective."

For example, in a team of five exceptional employees, each individual's high performance elevates the group's overall success. If there is even one underperformer, a team's effectiveness decreases by 30 to 40 percent.

The three pillars of high talent density

We follow three pillars to maintain and grow high talent density. These pillars guide how we build and sustain a team of exceptional performers at Gorgias.

Hire Great Talent: We look for people who excel in their roles today and show the potential to grow with the company in the future.
Part Ways with Non-Performers: We prioritize honest feedback and offer support for improvement, but we’re not afraid to make changes when necessary.
Nurture Your Talent Pool: We invest in our team’s development, ensuring everyone has the tools and opportunities to succeed as the company grows.

To bring this to life, we’ll use an analogy of colors to represent different types of performers in our talent pool:

Diagram of the 3 pillars of high talent density pillars — *At Gorgias, our talent pool consists of great talents (dark green circles), performers (light green), underperformers (pink), and non-performers (red).*

Let’s take a closer look at how we practice each of these pillars below.

Pillar #1: Hire great talents

Every manager wants to hire someone exceptional, but even with the best intentions, it doesn’t always work out.

To clarify, we’re looking for someone great to do the job now but has the potential to grow and stay strong as the company evolves.

Here’s how we approach it.

Pay well (i.e. transparently and competitively)

Let’s be upfront: great talent often comes with a higher price tag.

The first step in building high talent density is offering competitive pay. Exceptional people expect to be compensated for their contributions, and rightly so.

A single outstanding hire, even if paid 50% more than two average employees, often delivers far greater results.

This is especially true in creative roles, where the impact of a single talent can be worth that of several others. It’s certainly not easy to prioritize compensation when resources are tight, but talented people are an investment — and talent is usually expensive.

Focus on sourcing, not just applicants

Great candidates don’t always come knocking on your door. The best talent is often already employed, not actively looking for a new role.

To hire the best, we go beyond applications and invest heavily in proactive sourcing.

Use a structured recruiting playbook

At Gorgias, we rely on scorecards and standardized feedback forms to assess every applicant fairly and thoroughly. We also include role-specific assessments or assignments as part of the process.

While some argue that take-home tasks are no longer standard, we’ve found them invaluable. A strong interview doesn’t always translate into strong performance, and these assignments often reveal critical insights into a candidate’s true capabilities.

Referrals are another piece of the puzzle. A-players tend to know and recommend other A-players. While leveraging referrals, we also keep a close eye on maintaining diversity to make sure everyone gets the same chance.

Pillar #2: Part ways with non-performers

Regularly assess your talent pool

Performance isn’t static. Someone who was a top performer last year might not meet expectations today, especially as the company grows and their role evolves.

To stay objective, we pair performance reviews with bi-yearly cross-evaluation talent reviews. Cross-evaluations provide a broader perspective, helping managers see beyond potential biases and assess whether a top talent has changed in performance quality.

These regular evaluations ensure we’re always aware of who is meeting expectations and who may need support or a more difficult conversation.

Enforce honest feedback with your managers

While Netflix's philosophy is to immediately separate with employees when they underperform, we believe in a more empathetic approach that follows our company’s core value of being 100% honest.

At Gorgias, we train managers to deliver clear, actionable feedback so team members always know where they stand and how they can improve. To us, honesty means being thoughtful, encouraging, and focused on helping people grow.

We also use Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) as a tool for growth. We don’t simply view them as compliance tools, but as opportunities for employees to get back on their feet. In fact, 50% of our PIPs result in team members regaining performance.

Provide fair and generous severance packages

Sometimes, despite feedback and coaching, parting ways becomes the best option for both the employee and company. When that happens, we believe in making the transition as respectful and fair as possible.

Offering a strong severance package not only supports employees during their transition but also empowers managers to make tough decisions confidently. It reflects our shared responsibility and ensures we treat people with dignity, even when their time with us comes to an end.

Pillar #3: Nurture your talent pool

Help talent grow alongside the company

When a company grows, employees need to match that pace to keep delivering at a high level. This requires consistent learning and development to meet the challenges of each new stage.

Growth doesn’t happen by accident. As Daniel Coyle explains in The Talent Code, greatness isn’t born; it’s grown through “deep practice.”

To encourage growth, Gorgias managers hold career conversations every six weeks, focusing on the “3Es”: education, exposure, and experience. These discussions identify growth areas, leverage networks, and clarify the steps team members can take to excel.

We also reward our top performers with opportunities beyond financial incentives. From double learning stipends to travel experiences and executive mentorships, these rewards keep our “dark green” talents motivated and engaged.

Cultivate a positive and collaborative environment

In the pursuit of high talent density, results are important, but so is maintaining a positive, team-oriented environment.

A top performer with a toxic attitude can harm the environment you’re working hard to build. For that reason, we hire and nurture people who align with our values, show respect for others, and contribute to a collaborative culture. Both the what (talented employees) and the how (exemplary behavior) matter.

Implement pressure management programs

I believe this is one of the toughest topics when it comes to talent management.

Top performers are eager to work hard and prove their worth. Oftentimes, they approach work intensely and passionately. However, too much intensity can lead to exhaustion. And, of course, tired employees can’t deliver well.

That’s why managing pressure is crucial to maintaining high talent density. Introducing programs and initiatives that support the well-being of your employees helps prevent stress and burnout.

We take a tailored approach to prevent burnout, recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all. Having strong management training and great HRBPs (HR Business Partners) are the most impactful pieces. They help uncover the underlying issues of burnout: lack of vacation time, heavy workload, personal challenges, or misalignment.

Once the issues are clear, we provide the right tools to help. This could include coaching, training, enhanced benefits, or adjusted workloads.

How we measure, refine, and design our talent pool

We use specific metrics to gain insights into the effectiveness of our talent management strategies and refine our approach as needed.

Here are the metrics we track to evaluate talent density:

Performance scores over time: We track average performance scores across the company (excluding new hires) to monitor overall talent density.
Cross-evaluation reviews: Our biannual talent reviews include cross-evaluations, introducing variables like leadership, learning agility, and drive to ensure a holistic assessment.
Regrettable attrition rate: We analyze turnover rates to identify potential issues and address them proactively.
Transparent promotions: We’ve developed a promotion process that prioritizes fairness and merit. Managers must document and justify promotions, holding them accountable for consistency and equity.

By regularly tracking these metrics, we can see where we may be falling short — whether that’s being slow to part ways with low performers, struggling to attract great talent, or losing top performers unnecessarily.

Building strong organizational design

The ultimate goal of having strong talent density is to build a well-performing organization.

After each talent review, HRBPs will work hand in hand with managers to refine the organizational chart. They identify opportunities for improvement, such as promoting top talent, adjusting scopes of responsibility, or making changes to strengthen the team.

Ultimately, you should always make sure that your top performers are leading the most critical and top-priority initiatives.

*Before prioritizing high talent density, your org may be keeping low performers. After following the three pillars of high talent density, your org will be saturated with top performers.*

A personal note on the journey to high talent density

In my role as VP of People at Gorgias, I’ve seen how fast growth fuels the resources and opportunities needed to attract and develop exceptional talent. High performers thrive in environments with big goals and fast results, but it’s up to us to create the right conditions for them to succeed.

Sustaining high talent density takes dedication and humility. It means holding ourselves to high standards while being transparent. While we’ve made great strides, there’s always more to learn and refine.

As we continue this journey, let us remain humble, acknowledging that there is always room for growth and improvement.

min read.