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rank and yank

rank and yank
 n.— «Before it collapsed in a heap of moral ruin, Enron periodically fired the bottom-performing 10% of its employees. What’s more meritocratic than that? The McKinsey Quarterly praised this innovative practice, known internally as “rank and yank,” as one of the explanations for Enron’s success (It was actually based on a system that McKinsey invented, and implemented at Enron by their illustrious former partner, Jeffrey Skilling).» —“Questioning the merits of meritocracy” by Matt Prewitt Brown Daily Herald (Providence, Rhode Island) Apr. 17, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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