Topgrading

Having assessed/coached 6,500 executives including over 500 CEOs and presidents, I kinda know what ticks them off day in and day out – and one thing is how people communicate with them.

This short article spells out 3 of the most irritating ways people communicate with CEOs and frankly all high level managers, followed by the “bottom line” recommended approaches.

Communications Irritant #1: “It depends.”

It drives A player CEOs nuts when they ask a question and the response is, “it depends.”  Of course it depends – don’t say the obvious!  Any idiot can say “it depends” as a response to just about any question – what’s the weather going to be like, who do you think will win the ball game, what do you want to be doing in 5 years, will the strategy work?  “It depends” is a crutch, a stalling technique for someone who doesn’t know the answer or doesn’t want to tell the truth.

CEO: What do sales look like for the second quarter?
Pat: It depends. You know the economy is still dragging, two competitors have become very aggressive on pricing, a couple of our top sales people were pirated away … blah, blah, blah.
CEO: Pat, I just want to know what your best guess is for the second quarter.  TRANSLATION:  Quit covering your __ __ butt and answer the damn question!

Recommendation:  Answer the question directly and succinctly.

Say, “My best guess is $35 million for the second quarter.” If the CEO wants more of an explanation, wait to be asked!

Communications Irritant #2:  “Here’s how to build a watch.”

This is related to #1, but a bit different.  The CEO asks a question and the subordinate is fearful that a direct answer will be rejected, so the subordinate builds a case for the answer first … totally ticking off the CEO who is waiting, waiting, waiting for the answer.

CEO: What do sales look like for the second quarter?
Pat: You know the economy is still up in the air, blah, blah, blah.

As a professional interviewer I ask, metaphorically, what time it is and interviewees frequently respond by telling me how to build a watch.  So, I cut them off:  “Joe, please just give me the answer, and based on that answer I’ll possibly want a longer explanation.”

A players get the hint; C players don’t.  Then I give them one more chance:  “The hiring manager, the CEO, insists that when she asks a question, people answer directly and not build a case for the answer first.  I’ve asked you to answer me directly and sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t … but so I can judge whether you and the CEO would get along, please listen carefully to my questions and answer directly for the rest of this interview.”

Recommendation:  Answer the question directly and succinctly!

Don’t give a long-winded prelude and justification for the answer first.

Communications Irritant #3:  “I wanted to solve the problem before worrying you with it.”

It’s amazing how many managers do this, risking the wrath of the CEO:  “What, you knew our most valuable account was considering dumping us and you didn’t tell me?  You’re fired!”

Why would anyone hide crucial information from the CEO?  Simple – they know the CEO will blast them with questions:  “Why didn’t you anticipate this?  Why didn’t you do X, Y, and Z to prevent it?  Why haven’t you done A, B, and C to fix it?”

Too often CEOs punish open, complete communication, contributing to this problem, but that’s a topic for a future Topgrading Tips.

Recommendation:  “Manage” CEOs to totally trust your letting them know about problems.

Early in his career Bob Smith, Chairman of Acme (I changed names), reported to a CEO who, if he thought a division head was hiding anything, would send an army of analysts to question everyone.  Shortly after Bob was hired he said to the CEO, “I know you hate to get negative surprises, so I promise that within an hour of my learning of a problem (and taking an hour to verify it), I’ll let you know.  I’d ask a favor of you – please give me a day or so after that to investigate why it occurred and then I’ll get back to you with the answer, what should have been done to prevent it, what we’re doing to correct it, and how we’ll prevent a recurrence.’

Bob never was visited by that “army” of analysts.

INTRODUCTION: This article helps you answer the very common question, “What is different about Topgrading?”

For years we’ve said, “Topgrading hiring is just common sense on steroids.”  That is supposed to be a cute way of saying that adopting Topgrading practices proven to hire 90% high performers is a lot easier than someone might think, and there is no magic – just applied common sense.  But lately some executives have advised, “Don’t oversimplify Topgrading hiring methods – Topgrading is revolutionary, and before embracing it, people want to know how Topgrading values, principles, and tools differ from what they are accustomed to.”

Okay, here’s what is different about Topgrading:

1.  Hire only high performers.

Companies dedicated to hiring exceptional performers tend to pay exceptional salaries, but that seems to miss the core value of Topgrading hiring: at every salary level there are high and low performers, and Topgrading strives to help you hire only the best performers – not just average candidates but the very best available.

This notion – packing teams with the “best of class” at every salary level – is highly offensive to two groups of people:  1. those devoted to equality of outcomes (“C players need jobs, too.”), and 2. C players (who realize their job will be in jeopardy with Topgrading).  Hand out an article on Topgrading and just watch these two groups coalesce to undercut Topgrading!

2.  “Topgrading” is a made-up word and concept.

In the mid-1990s, my son Geoff Smart (of ghSMART & Co.) and I collaborated on developing a more comprehensive approach to talent management than what existed at the time.  We felt it was important to come up with a word that captured the essence of the spirit and principles that make up this concept.  “Topgrading” was the name we picked.

After all, if you “upgrade” talent you might have a team of 10 C players and replace one with a B player.  Whoopee – you’ve upgraded talent and you have a poor team.  The word Topgrading struck me as capturing the essence – packing the team with all high performers, A players, stars.

“Upgrading” talent can be embraced by C players; Topgrading means no C players.

3.  (Chronological) Topgrading Interview

The idea of a thorough chronological interview, asking a few questions about every job, is not new; every executive search report is the product of such an interview.  But search reports tend to be light on disclosing mistakes, failures, and what bosses would say are weaker points.

What we call the Topgrading Interview has been fine tuned for decades and today there are 16 basic questions about every job, including every success, every failure, every mistake, every key decision, every key relationship, assessments of every boss, estimates of what bosses would say about a candidate’s strengths, weaker points, and overall performance … plus questions about leadership, talent, goals, self appraisal, etc. … plus follow up questions.  Phew!

The innovation in the Topgrading Interview is to not overlook anything.  To achieve 90%+ high performers hired, you need 1,000+ data points.

4.  Focus on 50 Competencies.

In order to achieve 90%+ hiring success, focusing on 4 or 6 “key” competencies, which is what most companies still do, is inadequate.  This partly explains why companies hire only 25% - 30% true high performers.

In hundreds of workshops we’ve trotted out our standard 50 management competencies and challenged the participants to cut the list by even one, with this criterion:  you have to keep it if you would reject a candidate who is Poor or Very Poor on that competency.  No one has been able to cut the list by even one.  Conclusion:  50+ competencies must be accurately appraised.

But isn’t it impossible for an interviewer to accurately judge 50 competencies?

Nope!  At the beginning of workshops almost all managers say they can’t possibly do it, but at the end of the workshop – they’ve done it!   They amaze themselves!

So the good news is that managers trained in Topgrading can objectively and validly rate managerial candidates on all 50 competencies.

5.  Threat of Reference Check (TORC) Technique, the “truth serum of hiring”

This technique is simple but it works, motivating candidates to be honest.  It’s this:  let candidates know at each step in the hiring process that in order to get a job offer THEY will eventually have to arrange for personal reference calls with bosses (and others).

C players drop out and A players are happy to tell the truth and to arrange those calls.

6.  Topgrading Career History Form

Problem:  Pre-screening from resumes produces a mixture of good and bad candidates, since resumes are too often incomplete and hyped.

At a glance the Topgrading Career History form looks like an application form, but it’s much more. It requests all the information NOT included in resumes or application forms but you wish you had – complete salary history, boss ratings, likes and dislikes in jobs, true reasons for leaving an employer, and the “truth serum” – the TORC Technique (#5 above).

The Topgrading Career History Form gets only the best candidates in for face-to-face interviews.

7.  Research Base for Topgrading

There are now about 40 Topgrading professionals who have conducted tens of thousands of in-depth Topgrading Interviews on pre-screened candidates for executive positions.  Literally hundreds of thousands of times we’ve asked interviewees the talent question – what did you inherit, what did you end up with, and what did you do in terms of hiring, coaching, firing?

The point:  we’ve heard about every hiring method under the sun and never stop improving Topgrading methods.

8.  The Most Credible Case Studies

My son’s company and mine publish unusual case studies in our books and articles:  CEOs of NAMED leading companies state that their companies as a whole are doing better because of Topgrading.

9.  Managers (like you if you are an A player) can achieve 90% high performers hired.

Thanks to Jack Welch (GE Chairman at the time) approving Topgrading methods including two interviewers, the Tandem Topgrading Interview, many companies wanted to copy GE.  It’s now proven – trained A player managers can achieve 80% - 90% HIGH performers hired.

10.  Important Measures of Hiring Success

The HR world has been measuring hiring success in questionable ways – “cost to hire” people and “time to fill” jobs.  Trouble is, hiring goals are achieved if there are poor performers who are hired quickly and cheaply. Topgraders systematically measure percent HIGH performers hired.

The Topgrading Cost of Mis-Hires document is an original tool to quickly measure those costs; in only 15 minutes hiring managers become aghast at the high costs of their mis-hire, and that motivates them to learn the best hiring practices.

11. Ongoing Refinement of Interviewer Skills

Topgrading interviewers go through the Topgrading Interviewer Feedback Form, a checklist of a couple dozen good interviewer techniques, and simply give each other brief feedback and a couple of suggestions for how to do better next time.

12.  Candidates Arrange Personal Reference Calls with Former Bosses.

This is the follow through part of the TORC Technique (#5 above), and it’s simple:  after the Tandem Topgrading Interview, if the candidate and the interviewers want to proceed, the interviewers ask the candidate to do the work of arranging calls with the people the interviewers choose to talk with – usually 4 bosses, 2 peers, and 2 subordinates.  Conducting these phone interviews assures that the “truth serum” worked.

13.  Coaching New Hires Right Away

Candidates are promised coaching soon after they join, “to smooth your onboarding, assure you are productive quickly, and to begin a long-term development process right away.”  Bingo – A players love it!

CONCLUSION: Topgrading is an organic set of hiring best practices, most of which destroy what had been common hiring myths.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: We’ve released a brand new Topgrading Workbook, the same workbook we use in our workshops.  It has a clear explanation of each of the 12 Topgrading hiring steps, the same exercises to teach each step, and lots of new tools and methods.  Click here for more information or to order.

FREE DOWNLOADS: 1) 50-page eBook, an overview of Topgrading – click here, 2) Cost of Mis-Hires Form – click here,  3) Topgrading Vision, listing the 12 problems Topgrading solves, the skills necessary to learn, and results – click here.

The #1 flaw, shortcoming of most leaders is mediocre listening.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that improved listening is the single most powerful improvement most leaders can make.  Why?  Because when leaders progress from mediocre to very good listeners, their team considers them much improved as leaders overall, and specifically as motivators, team players, coaches, developers of talent, and yes – better Topgraders!

The best news:  I’ve seen hundreds of leaders improve their listening skills.  This Topgrading Tips shows how.

Being regarded as a very good leader also helps you Topgrade, because during the hiring process A player candidates ask others on your team, “What’s (your) leadership style like?”  “What do people on the team like and dislike about working for (you).”  “How are decisions made?”  “Is (the boss – you) a good listener?”  No A player wants to work for anyone, even a super A player, who is a lousy listener.

Having surveyed over a million people and coached a couple thousand senior managers, my files are loaded with my interview notes from co-workers whose boss or peer is a mediocre listener.  Even super A players toss a lot of banana peels in their path when they are mediocre listeners:  Co-workers feel diminished (“He’s always interrupting before I can finish.”  “He does emails when I’m talking.”), unappreciated (“I have good ideas but she won’t listen.”) and stifled (“How am I supposed to grow with my ideas squashed?”).  At worst sharp members of the team quit and it’s hard to recruit A players.  At best performance and teamwork are lessened.

Of the 6,500 executive assessments I’ve done, the single most common weakness listed, even for A players, is listening.  Of all the executives I’ve coached, the single most common area I’ve offered suggestions to improve is … listening.

Let’s tweak that – most leaders need to improve at ACTIVE LISTENING.

Listening is just grasping what the other person said.  ACTIVE LISTENING is playing back to the person what you heard, engaging in a dialog to really understand not just the words but what the person really meant to say, and the feelings, emotions, and passion underlying what is said.

Listening:

Subordinate: “I need a vacation.”
Leader: “You need a break – so do I!”

With ACTIVE listening:

Subordinate: “I need a vacation.”
Leader: “A vacation – I know, you’ve been working 70+ hours per week for weeks.”
Subordinate: “I know you appreciate it.”
Leader: “I sure do!  Not only your dedication but your great ideas are saving the Acme account!  You seem to thrive on hard work – what’s up?”
Subordinate: “It’s not me so much as some family obligations; I need some time … off.”
A Player Leader: (sits down, with full attention) “I’m not going to pry, but when you say you need some time off, you got it.”
Subordinate: “I don’t mean to be secretive.  Jeannie (wife) just found out she has breast cancer, and these international trips we’re scheduling will leave her feeling abandoned just when …”

You get the point.  ACTIVE LISTENING involves what is sometimes called “listening with the third ear,” which means paying attention to more than the words.  It’s being sensitive to body language, inflections, pauses, and eye contact, so that your responses show some understanding of what is not being said, what the feelings are beyond the words.

This Topgrading Tips summarizes the “nuggets,” the most successful ways managers have improved their listening skills.

1.  Conduct an email 360 survey. If you suspect listening is a weakness and you want to be sure, here’s a simple survey technique:  Just have HR (so there is some anonymity) send a 5-item email survey to co-workers saying, “Pat Smith has asked HR to survey (5-15) co-workers asking how frequently they view him as …” The scale is Always, Frequently, Sometimes, Never.
Include at least 3 items you’re sure will get high ratings (A Results-Oriented “Doer,” Hard Working, A Topgrader, etc.) but include A Very Good Listener and maybe 1 other item you could improve at – Generous with Praise, A Positive Motivator, etc.

After each item leave space for Written Comments.

2.  Ask someone you trust to interpret the (negative) survey results. If your survey results are positive – terrific!  No need to read further (unless you want to pass this Topgrading Tips on to someone who needs to improve).

That trusted advisor will help you to see yourself realistically, just in case you might be tempted to be defensive or dismiss the results.

Re-take the survey every 6 months until you are Frequently viewed as a Very Good Listener.

3.  Pretend a camera is on you 24/7 and will record all your listening, good and bad. The image of the camera has helped hundreds of managers remind themselves to listen better.

4.  “Play back” to the person what you think you understood. “Pat, let me check if I understand — you want to personally make the Executive Committee presentation because you did the study, you can best field any questions, and after a year with the company you’d like some visibility, is that right?”  If Pat has a fourth reason, she’ll say it, but at a minimum she’ll know you were a good listener.

5.  Use the “10 Dime Technique.” Put 10 dimes in a pocket and every time you are really proud of yourself for using ACTIVE LISTENING, transfer a dime to another pocket.  When you end up with most dimes transferred … you’re improving!

SUMMARY: Active listening is the turbo-booster of leadership competencies.  It’s also a really, really important skill for Topgrading interviewing!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: For the absolute latest innovations in Topgrading hiring, check out the all-new Topgrading Workbook.  It explains all 12 Topgrading hiring steps, and has fun, practical exercises to master each.  For more information, click here.

The New Topgrading Workbook!

Hi Topgraders,

You have asked for a simple, straightforward Topgrading Workbook, with all the latest Topgrading tools, and here it is!

The Topgrading Workbook is THE manual we use in our Topgrading Workshops.  It clearly explains all 12 Topgrading hiring steps and then there are the same fun, practical exercises we use in workshops.

To purchase the Topgrading Workbook, click now to get a tool that will be your personal tutor or the only handout you’ll need for your internal Topgrading workshops.

Our society is in need of an ethical transplant.  Why?  Because it’s widely considered acceptable for job candidates to lie on their resumes and in hiring interviews.  Employers, job seekers, and our economy suffer.  Topgrading seeks to eliminate the BS.

INTRODUCTION

Many publishers have asked me to write the book, How to BS (my initials, get it?) Your Way Through a Topgrading Interview.  No way!  Topgraders elicit TRUTH from candidates.

I guess I have the creds to discuss ethics in hiring, since I’ve performed 65,000 oral case studies.  Really!  I’ve conducted about 6,500 in-depth interviews of pre-screened, mostly A player candidates for mid-to-executive jobs.  In the Topgrading Interview I ask why you left the job, how you got the next job, and how it worked out (in detail).

Since my interviewees averaged 10 jobs, that’s 65,000 times I’ve heard how really sharp people manage their career and get jobs – and how they prepared their resume and rehearsed for interviews.

Heads of companies that verify resumes say almost all resumes include hype, and more than 50% contain deliberate, serious falsehoods.  A players are at a real disadvantage, because they can honestly claim lots of accomplishments, yet C players dishonestly do the same.  Almost all resumes look like A player resumes!

Caught lying, candidates say they are justified because 1. Companies are not necessarily ethical in how they fill jobs (a topic for a different Topgrading Tips), 2. Outplacement counselors tell them they HAVE to lie to get a job, 3. All the books on job hunting say to lie, and besides, 4. Everyone else is doing it — “Playing the job hunting game is just part of our culture.”

Great!  The sad fact is that all 4 points have some truth, and so omitting important truths in resumes and interviews is widely acceptable – unethical, dishonest, but acceptable in our culture.

We Americans sometimes act superior to other countries, where business people are said to mean “no” when they say “yes,” or where written contracts seem to be frequently broken.  But those same countries make a point that their culture is not so different from ours in the acceptance of marginal ethics, at least in hiring.  The example I always hear is, “It’s perfectly okay in the US for job seekers to lie on their resume and in job interviews.”

Is the culture of job hunting dishonesty really so pervasive?  Yes.  Outplacement companies don’t admit the teach their clients to lie, but more than a dozen outplacement counselors have told me they ALL do it.

Look at the job seeking section of any bookstore and the message is – “BS your way into a job.”  The gentle form of our ethical lapse is the advice to hype positives and exclude negatives, and on my desk at the moment are 15 books with sample “scripts” on how to answer interview questions.  The message is clear – it’s ok to BS!

Some books don’t beat around the bush.  In 44 Insider Secrets That Will Get You Hired author Cynthia Shapiro’s Secret #7 is:  You CAN Lie on Your Resume.  Secret #31 is:  Don’t Ever Admit You Were Fired.  She suggests that in your resume and in interviews it’s okay to deceive – for example, to not mention a 3-to 6-month job in which you were fired.  Instead, she advises you to say you were conducting an extended job search.

The job hunting books give liars comfort that they won’t be caught.  Why?  Most companies are so fearful of being sued, they prohibit managers from accepting reference calls.  Job hunting books take glee in the fact that former bosses won’t be contacted and they advise job seekers to provide only the most positive references – golfing buddies, insurance agents, neighbors, and priests (okay, I’m exaggerating a bit).

CONSEQUENCES ARE HORRIBLE

With job seekers reading these books on how to out-interview interviewers, putting their best foot forward and concealing negatives, everyone loses except some C players who otherwise would have to take much lower-paying jobs.

You’ve read our studies – hiring managers like you experience only 25% high performers hired, so your job performance suffers.  Or, more likely, you work 70 hours per week to sweep up after mis-hires, sacrificing your personal life.

Companies perform poorer with 75% mis-hires, and the mis-hired employees frequently bounce from job to job.  The cost of mis-hires in our economy has been estimated in the trillions of dollars.

In short, like Chicago politicians who take payoffs (“beause dat’s da way we do tings here”), job seekers deliberately deceive prospective employers, like you.

Can we change this rotten, destructive aspect of our culture.? We can try …

TOPGRADING CREATES ETHICS

In a steadily growing wave of culture change, Topgraders, almost all of whom are A players are making our society more ethical, and just about everyone wins.  Topgrading is all about TRUTH in advertising when it comes to resume construction, and all about TRUTH in answering interview questions.

With honestly documented 90% hiring success, Topgrading managers perform better and have balance in life, their employers are more profitable and grow more jobs, and our economy benefits.  And the society at large is ore productive, creating more jobs and wealth.

But what about the C players who aren’t hired?  They must find jobs where they can perform at a more high level, even if the level of the job isn’t as high.

How do Topgraders create more honest job seekers?  You probably know this, but Topgraders begin by letting candidates know that THEY will have to arrange personal reference calls with bosses, in order to get a job offer.  This Threat of Reference Check (TORC) Technique inspires honesty.  If works!  C players drop out (they can’t get former bosses to talk) and A players are happy to arrange those calls.  Most important – candidates willing to make those calls are super honest in interviews, knowing you’ll be talking with their bosses.

FEATURED PRODUCT:   For a free Cost of Mis-Hires Form (to easily measure the costs of mis-hires), just (click here).  And if you’d like a 1-hour short course in Topgrading hiring, including the methods that inspire honesty and ethics in the process, (click here).