Talent is what separates the best from the rest. The best-performing companies simply have better people. Right? That’s certainly what we thought before Bain & Company launched its in-depth investigation of workforce productivity. After assessing the practices of global companies and surveying senior executives, we discovered that the best companies have roughly the same percentage of star talent as the rest — no more, no less. It turns out that what separates the best-performing companies from others is the way they deploy talent.