“What percent of your employees do you think are delivering great work right now?”

Bottom line: Nearly two-thirds of managers (62.1%) believe that fewer than half of their employees are delivering great work.

QUICK VIDEO OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Complete Distribution of Manager Responses

"These results raise some uncomfortable but essential questions," said Mark Murphy, Founder of Leadership IQ and lead researcher on the study.

"If fewer than half of employees are seen as performing at a great level, we have to ask: Are our expectations too high? Are we failing to give people the tools and support they need? Or are we not confronting performance issues honestly enough?"

Why We Chose the Phrase "Great Work"

In designing this study, we were deliberate in our use of "great work" rather than "good work," "excellent work," or "outstanding performance." We chose "great work" to reflect the most realistic and meaningful standard for top-tier performance in today's organizations.

In our leadership programs, we teach a simple but powerful framework to define performance levels:

• Needs Work: Unacceptable or subpar effort
• Good Work: Meets expectations—solid, dependable, and fine
• Great Work: Goes beyond—proactive, impactful, inspiring, and elevates others

As Mark Murphy explains: "The difference between good work and great work isn't supernatural talent or superhero effort. It's a subtle but powerful set of behavioral choices—often small habits—that separate people who merely do their job from those who elevate the work of everyone around them."

In nearly every organization we've studied, leaders recognize what separates someone who is merely "good" from someone who is truly "great." Sometimes it's measurable—like higher output or fewer errors—but often it's behavioral traits like taking initiative, championing change, helping teammates succeed, sharing lessons learned, and inspiring others through example.

Critically, great work is not about titles or hierarchy. As Murphy says: "You don't need a leadership title to do great work. It's a choice. One employee can choose to quietly accept a change; another can choose to lead others through it. Both are doing their jobs, but only one is doing great work."

What's Behind the Performance Gap?

Follow-up interviews with respondents revealed several themes that help explain the gap between expected and actual performance:

Unclear expectations: Many employees may not have a clear definition of what great work looks like in their role.

Lack of coaching and feedback: Without regular support and feedback, employees may struggle to improve or aim higher.

Leadership blind spots: Some leaders may overestimate how clearly their expectations are communicated or how effectively performance is being managed.

Systems and processes: Organizational structures may inadvertently discourage the initiative and risk-taking that characterize great work.

Recommendations for Leaders

To close the gap and increase the number of employees doing great work, Leadership IQ recommends that leaders:

1. Clearly define what "great work" means for each role—not just outputs, but behaviors and quality standards that create impact beyond the individual.

2. Provide frequent performance coaching, not just annual reviews. Great work develops through ongoing guidance and real-time feedback.

3. Identify and celebrate examples of great work, using them as models to guide others and reinforce the behaviors you want to see.

4. Connect daily work to organizational impact, so employees understand how their contributions matter and how great work in their role drives broader success.

5. Create systems of accountability that reinforce high performance while addressing mediocrity constructively and supportively.

6. Remove barriers to great work by examining processes, policies, and cultural norms that may discourage initiative, collaboration, or innovation.

"If only 36% of employees are delivering great work," Murphy concludes, "then we've got a huge source of untapped potential. The right leadership moves can dramatically increase that number—and transform organizational performance in the process."

Methodology: How We Calculated the 35.7% Average

While the survey used response ranges, we used a weighted midpoint analysis—a widely accepted technique for estimating averages from categorical data.

The Calculation Process

1. Each range was assigned a midpoint value:
0-20% → 10%
21-40% → 30%
41-60% → 50%
61-80% → 70%
81-100% → 90%

2. We calculated the percentage of managers who selected each range (see table above).

3. We multiplied each midpoint by the percentage of managers who selected that range:
0-20%: 31.8% × 10% = 3.18
21-40%: 30.3% × 30% = 9.10
41-60%: 20.9% × 50% = 10.46
61-80%: 11.3% × 70% = 7.93
81-100%: 5.6% × 90% = 5.03

4. We summed the results to arrive at a weighted average: 35.7%

This method provides a statistically sound estimate of how managers perceive employee performance across the categorical ranges.