How To Hire Better 🦄
Imagine you were building a new home, and you discovered that 70% of your materials were wrong. Would you just keep building and hope for the best?
One study of six companies found that 70% of hires turned out to be "mis-hires."😱 And yet most managers rarely change their approach to hiring.
That same PhD dissertation found a method called “Topgrading” reduced mis-hires from 70% to 10%.
There are aspects of the Topgrading approach that drive me crazy. For example, it categorizes people into A Players, B Players, and C Players. I hate that 😡. Most people can be “A players” in the right role, supported by the right culture, with the right training and good management. I prefer “High/Med/Low Alignment” or something similar.
If this were a two minute email, I’d say more about the tonal faults of Topgrading. But in this one-minute email, I’ll just say “be prepared to spit out the shell if you look into Topgrading.”
It is definitely worth looking into.
Here’s what I do like about the methodology:
Effective: It is proven to reduce mis-hires, saving organizations all the financial, cultural, and productivity losses.
Broad: It broadens the hiring process, from cultivating future candidates to ensuring long-term role performance.
Rigorous: It’s appropriately intense, given what’s at stake for the candidate and the org. The thorough interview framework helps hiring managers deeply understand candidates' work patterns.
Distinctive: Its unique approach, from job descriptions to reference checks, intentionally addresses gaps in the traditional process.
Ok that’s our one minute for today. More on people and hiring later!
