Every employee has some talent, but a company with a high talent density is a company everyone wants to work for: High performers especially thrive in environments where the overall talent density is high.

This was the conclusion reached by NETFLIX, after a collective layoff when they went through a crisis and had to fire 40 of the 120 employees, leaving only the 80 most talented people.

“We were left with a smaller amount of talent overall, but the amount of talent per employee was higher. Our talent density had increased.

Our employees were learning more from each other and teams were doing more, faster. This increased individual motivation and satisfaction, and drove the entire company to produce more.

We found that being surrounded by the best took what was already good work to a whole new level.

Most importantly, working with truly talented colleagues was impressive, inspiring and a lot of fun – something that remains as true at the company today, with 7,000 employees, just as it did when we were with those 80.”

In hindsight, we realize that one or two individuals with merely fair performance reduce the performance of everyone on the team.

If you have a team with five incredible collaborators and two reasonable ones, the reasonable ones will:

• Sapping managers' energy so that they have less time to devote to high performers;

• Reduce the qualities of group discussions, lowering the overall team IQ;

• Forcing others to develop ways to join them, reducing efficiency;

• Driving team members who seek excellence to leave;

• Show the team that the company accepts mediocrity, multiplying the problem;

For top performers, a great work environment doesn't equate to a fancy office, a gym or free sushi for lunch. It is rather related to the joy of being surrounded by talented and collaborative people.

People who can help you be better.

When every member of the team is excellent, performance increases as employees learn and motivate each other.