Just as Vilfredo Pareto observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas (Pareto Principle), 80% of the FTE variances occur in 20% of the departments within a hospital. The PLUS+ Report© takes the same approach and sorts the variances based on the greatest variances. The “Red” box represents the sum of those areas that are currently running a variance. The goal is not to be at a zero “Plus+” variance, rather to use this as a guide to identify areas of focus. Global and Specific Department Assessment.