From ‘me’ to ‘we’: Rethinking high performance in 2025

For years, organisations have fixated on identifying and rewarding high performers. However, the data suggests this approach is not sustainable for the individuals and their teams, writes Justin Angsuwat.

In the world of elite sports, success is rarely attributed to a single star player. Even in the case of Michael Jordan and the legendary Chicago Bulls, Jordan was the best player in the league, but the Bulls didn’t win a championship in the first six seasons with him. It was only until their seventh season, when the team implemented the triangle offence, a play that used the strength of the team, not just the individual, that they won their first championship with Jordan. And then they won six championships in the next eight seasons.

It wasn’t Jordan’s individual brilliance alone that won those championships – it was the collective team. The corporate world is beginning to take note, and in 2025, we predict a significant shift in performance management: from focusing solely on high-performing individuals to building high-performing teams.

For years, organisations have fixated on identifying and rewarding high performers. However, the data suggests this approach is not sustainable for the individuals and their teams. Culture Amp’s research reveals that only 11 per cent of employees receive a high-performance rating even once over a three-year period, and a mere 2 per cent will achieve this rating consecutively. The stark reality? A staggering 83 per cent of employees never receive a high-performance rating at all.

If the goal is to create a culture of high performance, then organisations need to rethink how they define and cultivate it.

The flaws in individual performance management

Performance management is hard. Done really well, there’s psychological safety and sustainable high performance.

Done not so well, it can be disengaging, create resentment, and the psychological concept of “social loafing” – where someone puts in less effort in a group than when working alone, which means the more diligent team members are shouldering the burden.

The traditional model of performance measurement places the onus on individuals to consistently operate at peak levels. Yet, human beings aren’t designed to function at maximum capacity all the time – and that’s OK. What’s more concerning is that one in four employees perceives their company’s performance process as unfair. If employees don’t trust the system, how can it effectively drive engagement and results?

When we combine all of these insights – the unsustainability of high individual performance and the widespread perception of unfairness in performance measurement – the path forward becomes clear. Performance evaluation must evolve from an individual-centric approach to a more collective one.

The shift from ‘me’ to ‘we’

In 2025, we expect a growing number of organisations to adopt an environmental approach to performance management – one that evaluates individuals within the context of their teams. This doesn’t mean abandoning individual assessments altogether but rather recognising that performance is a shared outcome.

Culture Amp’s own research further validates this: high performers tend to have individual goals that are closely aligned with company-wide objectives. The key takeaway? Companies that establish and communicate clear organisational goals enable both individuals and teams to rally around them, driving better outcomes at every level.

Rethinking performance measurement

If we accept that high performance is best nurtured within a team environment, the next question becomes: how do we measure it? Moving forward, we anticipate that performance assessment will incorporate more team-based metrics – borrowing from the world of sports, where individual stats are important, but ultimate success is measured in wins and championships.

We don’t see many organisations doing this well, yet, but the ones that do all have one thing in common – their performance reviews don’t just focus on the individual but also on how the individual contributed to the team.

An easy place to start is to simply ask the question in performance reviews: “How has this person contributed to the success of their team?” or “How has the team helped this person succeed?”

The road ahead

The implications of this shift extend beyond performance ratings. By moving from “me” to “we” in performance management, we can create workplaces where success is not about a handful of individuals but about the entire organisation thriving together, where you can have some MVPs individuals, or individuals with MVP moments, but recognising the symbiotic nature of both the individual and the team in those instances.

This is just the beginning. As we continue to refine our approach, we look forward to exploring the evolving employee-employer relationship in future discussions. One thing is certain: in 2025 and beyond, the companies that invest in building high-performing teams – not just high-performing individuals – will be the true winners.

Justin Angsuwat is the chief people officer at Culture Amp and executive in residence at Blackbird.