[krishnakv]

At that point, I would just drop the person who I dislike the most to the bottom of the bucket. After all, as a manager, I have no choice but to fill that slot, and given every-one has performed well on the job, what other heuristic can I use to select the "bottom 2"?

Or I may drop the person who I can get rid of with the least hassle, maybe the new guy who just joined the team or someone who has taken long leave during this period.

See how it works? Nothing to do with performance, and inevitably its the "A" performers who quit in disgust. And companies wonder why they cannot get talent to stay...