Keeper test
A management check in which a manager asks whether they would fight to keep an employee who announced they were leaving for a similar role at another company.
The keeper test is a team-management method popularized by Netflix. A manager regularly asks themselves a single question: "If this employee came to me today saying they were leaving for a similar role at another company, would I fight to keep them?" If the answer is no, it is a signal that the person probably should no longer hold their current role.
The idea behind this approach is to build a team made up only of people the manager would consider irreplaceable — following the principle that a company is "a team, not a family." In the Netflix model, an employee who does not pass the test is offered a generous severance package to make room for someone with higher impact.
The keeper test is sometimes criticized for fostering a culture of fear and pressure when applied without empathy or clear criteria. Used responsibly, it relies on objective performance data and regular feedback, so decisions are grounded in facts rather than impressions. Running goals and reviews in Calamari's Performance module gives managers a solid basis for those conversations.
Related terms
Underperformance
A situation in which an employee consistently fails to meet the expected results, quality standards, or goals of their role.
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Performance
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