In our previous post, “Hire the best, fire the rest,” we talked about the “topgrading” concepts espoused by management psychologist Dr. Brad Smart. In his book, “Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People.” He forwards the idea that, any employee the company hires or promotes, from the executive suite to the factory floor to the loading dock, should be an A-Player (people who are in the top 10 percent of the talent available for that position) or people who have the potential to become A-Players. Over time, says Dr. Smart, people who are not A-Players or who lack the potential to become A-Players, must be replaced. Sounds like a tall order, and it is.
If you’re interested in becoming a “topgrading” company and would like some thoughts on where to start, please continue reading below.
“Hire the best, fire the rest” (Part 2)
First, let’s be clear. Topgrading is probably not for everyone. It’s a very rigorous system for hiring and promoting people, and it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not the kind of thing that you say “Let’s give it a try.” No, you either go at it full throttle, or you don’t go at it at all.
If you are interested in becoming a topgrading company and want a detailed manual on how to do it, you need to read Dr. Smart’s book, but there are three major areas that you’ll need to think about.
Commitment. Becoming a topgrading company is a major strategic objective that will require the horsepower that only the CEO can deliver. You won’t be able to hand this off to an HR person or to someone else on your leadership team. So if you’re not prepared to lead the charge on this, you should not attempt it. You will also need to get a commitment from all hiring managers that, no matter how desperate they are to fill a key spot, they absolutely will only fill it with someone they believe to be an A-Player. That means they will need to have contingency plans for key openings to help them “get by” until the right person can be found. And if they’re smart, they will begin seeking out and keeping a list of people with the “right stuff” to be A-Players in your organization so that when they do have an opening, they already have a short list of people who can fill it.
Detailed job descriptions with key success factors. “cultural fit.” Too often we focus on the skills we need and overlook a candidate’s values and interpersonal skills. We need to recognize that if a candidate has great work skills, but is a poor fit for our culture, he or she may be an A-Player at another company, but not at ours.
- 3) The topgrading interview.
- Earlier in this post, we said that topgrading is a tall order and that it’s not for the faint of heart. It will be a jolt to your culture . . . perhaps a welcome jolt, but a jolt nonetheless. You will be saying to your organization, “We only have room here for people who are top performers or are on their way to becoming top performers.” When your lesser performers realize that you’re serious about this, some will self-select out and leave the company in search of less demanding pastures. There will great pressure on you and your hiring managers to be faithful gatekeepers and not to allow any B- or C-Players in . . . your culture will feel violated if you do. But if you can deal with all of that and successfully navigate the rigors of the topgrading approach, the payoffs can be enormous.
NOTE: If you missed Part 1 of this post or if you would like to review it, here is a link to it.
https://rocksolidbizdevelopment.com/ourblog/hire-best-fire-rest/
Rock Solid Business Development
Phone: (847) 665-9134
andy@rocksolidbizdevelopment.com
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