Five archetype employees

The 5 Types of Employees (and the 2 you need to worry about)

Colin Ellis
4 min readOct 16, 2024

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Over the last 10 years I’ve worked with more than 100 teams in over 20 countries. Each is unique in its culture and each has its own challenges and opportunities to improve (hence why they hire me!)

I place a lot of emphasis on getting to know the organisation and to understand its employees. Regardless of whether they are athletes, engineers, executives, public servants or board members, each brings something different in terms of their skill set, ideas and, of course, their attitude.

When working with senior leaders I look to identify where the key challenges lie in moving the culture forward. There are always two kinds of employees that I recommend that leaders be on the lookout for, as these are the ones that may hinder change.

Sometimes, the two types exist within the leadership team itself, which is an issue that needs to be addressed before starting any work on culture.

In total — and again, this is in my experience — there are five types of employee within any team and they are as follows:

Leavers (10%)

These are often the happiest people in the team as they’ve already made the decision to leave! For some, the culture is not a good values match, some are leaving for bigger opportunities, whilst others have to get out as they don’t enjoy the job, the person that they work for or the conditions that they work in.

This group of people have taken matters into their own hands and rather than stay and complain about their situation, they have chosen a different path. Leaders should ensure that there is a full knowledge transfer from these people and that they interview them to understand why they are leaving.

Disruptors (10%)

These are the first group of employees to worry about. These people are actively disengaged and will demonstrate it on a daily basis. Sometimes it is evident in their communication, sometimes it is evident in their behaviour. However, they approach everything with a fixed mindset and seemingly have no desire to change or grow.

This group of people — if left unchecked — will look for people to share their disengagement with and thus generate widespread toxicity throughout the team. Sometimes it only one person to be the catalyst. Leaders need to ensure that Disruptors are dealt with empathetically but firmly such that their behaviour or performance doesn’t impact others.

Coasters (40%)

These are the second group of employees to worry about and — depending on the team and the type of culture that exists — often form the bulk of the workforce. They are easy to spot as they complain a lot, but never resolve to address the root cause of their complaints. They simply go along with the status quo.

They willingly undertake work that is unproductive or, at worst, unethical. They’ll do anything for ‘the quiet life’ and do the bare minimum to ensure that their employment is never questioned. They don’t see it as their role to contribute to culture, instead they sit back and wait for others to take responsibility.

Drivers (35%)

It is the Drivers who pick up that responsibility. They are motivated, hardworking and seek to ensure that the team achieves its goals. They listen to understand, ask questions and actively challenge where they see inefficiencies.

However, these people are often overworked. They are good at what they do, so senior leaders give them more, rather than looking to lighten their burden so that they can focus on high value work. Drivers who are overworked will very quickly become Coasters or Leavers if they feel they are being put-upon or are making up for the (lack of work from) Coasters.

Stars (5%)

These are the smallest group of employees and yet, when presented with the right opportunities at the right time, they are the future of the team. Diligent, ethical, productive and highly engaged… you know a star when you see one.

They are not always the most talented (in terms of technical expertise), but they are self-aware, self-motivated and seek to enhance their experience and knowledge in any way that they can. They manage their time and energy well and will actively challenge unnecessary work, saying ‘no’ if they don’t believe they can succeed in what they’re being asked to do.

Toxic cultures occur when senior leaders allow the Disruptors to actively influence the Coasters. Rather than challenge the Disruptors, Coasters become demoralised leaving Drivers to pick up the slack. When Drivers get tired of doing this, they will either become Coasters themselves, or leave the organisation. Attrition rates go up, productivity reduces and motivation gradually ebbs away. Stars — who have been quietly going about their business during this time — watch carefully and make considered decisions about the organisation and what it offers them in the future.

The role of leaders is to deal with the Disruptors early and then involve all employees in actively building a culture that turns the Coasters into Drivers. This in turn will lead to more Stars being generated and the culture — and the results that it generates — will be safeguarded for years to come.

Where are you right now? Do you have any Disruptors looking to make things worse for everyone? How can you deal with them in order to change the working conditions for everyone?

Find out where your culture is right now by taking the Five Cultures Quiz, which you can find here.

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Colin Ellis
Colin Ellis

Written by Colin Ellis

Global culture consultant | Best-selling Author | Keynote Speaker | Podcaster | Evertonian | Whisky Lover | Likes to laugh, a lot www.colindellis.com

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