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yoda
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| 11/19/2008 4:13 PM |
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This Topgrading Tips is a synopsis of my son's recent release, Who: The A Method for Hiring (Geoff Smart and Randy Street, authors). It's a best seller (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek best seller lists). Although I generally write Topgrading Tips to be a "90-second read," this is longer, in order to give you actionable "nuggets."*
I'm going to assume you have read at least one of my 5 Topgrading books, preferably the 650-page "bible" (Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People) with 1. case studies with leading companies achieving 90% hiring success, 2. how to become an A player, and 3. the 5 key Topgrading methods, including the Topgrading Interview. I don't need to preach to the choir (you). So, this article will spell out where Geoff and Randy's book adds to what you might have learned in my books or in the 7-hour Topgrading DVD Geoff and I created.
Who is based on unprecedented sources. Geoff interviewed 313 CEOs including more than 20 billionaires. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews, it's the largest research study of its kind in history. H. Wayne Huizinga, founder of Waste Management, Blockbuster Video, and AutoZone, wrote: "Geoff Smart and Randy Street have done an amazing job of distilling the best advice from some of the world's most successful business leaders.'' Naturally, some of those billionaires are effusive about how Topgrading methods have turbo-boosted their success!
The book begins with an obvious point, made with unusual potency: hiring the right people is really, really, really important. You know this but the book puts the cork in the bottle. Billionaires can get your attention on this point! A quote from The Economist front page story ("In Search for Talent") also confirms, "finding the right people is the single biggest problem in business today."
Nugget #1: Don't write general job descriptions, write job scorecards with measurable accountabilities.
The book does a great job of explaining that without measurable accountabilities hiring managers become disappointed in the performance of even A players they've hired, and those A players feel the "real" job was never explained to them.
Nugget #2: The best method of sourcing candidates is through your network.
The CEOs that Geoff and Randy interviewed for the book gave their opinions regarding the best methods to recruit candidates. Here are the results:
Top-Five Best Methods for Sourcing Talent
Source How Often Mentioned
1. Referrals from business network 77%
2. Refferals from personal network 77%
3. Hire external recruiter 65%
4. Hire a recruiting researcher 47%
5. Hire internal recruiter 24%
Who takes this recommendation a step further - exactly how to operationalize this sourcing method:
How to Source
Referrals from your professional and personal networks. Create a list of the ten most talented people you know and commit to speaking with at least one of them per week for the next ten weeks. At the end of each conversation, ask, "Who are the most talented people you know?" Continue to build your list and continue to talk with at least one person per week.
Referrals from your employees. Add sourcing as an outcome on every scorecard for your team. For example, "Source five A Players per year who pass our phone screen." Encourage your employees to ask people in their networks, "Who are the most talented people you know whom we should hire?" Offer a referral bonus.
Deputizing friends of the firm. Consider offering a referral bounty to select friends of the firm. It could be as inexpensive as a gift certificate or as expensive as a significant cash bonus.
Hiring recruiters. Use the method described in this book to indentify and hire A Player recruiters. Build a scorecard for your recruiting needs, and hold the recruiters you hire accountable for the items on that scorecard. Invest time to ensure the recruiters understand your business and culture.
Hiring researchers. Identify recruiting researchers whom you can hire on contract, using a scorecard to specify your requirements. Ensure they understand your business and culture.
Sourcing systems. Create a system that (1) captures the names and contact information on everybody you source and (2) schedules weekly time on your calendar to follow up. Your solution can be as simple as a spreadsheet or as complex as a candidate tracking system integrated with your calendar.
Nugget #3: The Topgrading Interview is the single most important selection tool.
"Duh," you say, but Who provides a simplified version compared to my 32-page Topgrading Interview Guide. It also provides a brilliant method to drill down with follow up questions to find out, for example, if the accomplishment was terrific or lousy. Here's how: ask about the accomplishment ("achieved 25% increase in sales") - a. how it compared to the previous year, b. how it compares to the stated goal, and c. how it compared to peers' performance. Ahhh - with that information you can accurately evaluate the candidate.
Nugget #4: Sell the candidate from the initial contact right on through the first 100 days.
I've kind of neglected this in my books but Who makes an excellent point - A players may join you but if there were two other companies recruiting them, don't for a minute assume those companies have given up.
In order to sell the candidate on joining (and remaining with) you, the book spells out selling points, the 5 F's: fit, family, freedom, fortune, and fun. If you can't offer all 5, consider figuring how to do it or risk not having as many A players on your team.
Nugget #5. For CEO, hire cheetahs (move quickly, set high standards, aggressive, hold people accountable, work hard), not lambs (open, listen, likable, easy to work with).
The University of Chicago analyzed 313 hires using Topgrading methods and 57% of the "lambs" created significant value for their shareholders, but get this - 100% of the "cheetahs" built shareholder value. Geoff concluded that emotional intelligence is important, but cheetah qualities are essential, and the ideal is a combination of both.
In short, Who takes the Topgrading basics and adds some new concepts and a lot of "color commentary" from hugely successful people.
Best,
Brad
Brad Smart, President
Smart & Associates, Inc.
847-244-5544
847-265-7415 (fax)
Brad.Smart@Topgrading.com
www.SmartTopgrading.com
* Geoff didn't just embrace my Topgrading stuff but indeed has been crucial to it's ever-expanding content and popularity (translation - he's smarter than his old man), and has built his own firm completely on his own.
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