Topgrading

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Many people have asked for this, because it’s easy to get “lost in the weeds,” and not know where all the pieces fit together.  Following are all the steps managers/companies take to achieve 90% HIGH performers hired.  Entire chapters and 1 ½ hour webinars explain them in detail, but here are the Cliff Notes.
Pretend you decided to fill a job January 1 and it takes about 3 months to fill it.  Here’s how the Topgrading sequence progresses:

Step 1:  Measure your hiring success – what percent high performers have been hired, and what is the average cost of mis-hire (use the Cost of Mis-Hires Form).  Why:  managers always conclude their hiring success is mediocre or worse and the costs of mis-hires are far greater than they thought … so embracing Topgrading is necessary.

Step 2:  Instead of creating a typically vague job description, add measurable accountabilities.  Why: so that all the stakeholders and all candidates REALLY know what the job is.

Step 3:  Ideally recruitment starts with Step 5, using your Network.  Note the white box, which gives the typical time to fill jobs from different recruitment sources.  If you run ads, let’s assume you received 150 resumes, and it’s well into January.  Why run ads:  because your Network didn’t produce candidates and you decided not to hire a recruiter.

Step 4.  Instead of screening from deceptive, incomplete resumes, use the Topgrading Career History Form.  Why:  it requests all the information you’d like to have but resumes don’t include – full salary history, boss ratings, true reasons for leaving and a clever “truth serum” that assures answers – the clear instruction that in order to get a job offer THEY will eventually have to arrange personal reference calls with bosses.

From the 150 resumes, you reviewed them, emailed 50 Topgrading Career History Forms out, asking prospects to complete it, and you got 30 back (C players were scared off, knowing they wouldn’t get bosses to talk – good!).  In no time, with the VALUABLE information from the Career History Form, you decide to screen 8 finalists on the phone.

Step 5.  You call the 8 and screen them on the phone, reminding them that an offer will require their arranging reference calls with bosses.  Why:  Telephone screens save you time, and getting former bosses to talk is no problem for high performers!

Probably 6 of the 8 candidates sound good – the Career History Form not only saved you time but you invite only four REALLY good candidates in for face-to-face interviews.

It’s late February and you are now ready to interview, in person, four finalists.

Step 6:  Your finalists go through four rather typical 1-hour competency (behavioral) interviews, which are easy to fake.  This is the selection method that produces 25% high performers hired for almost all Global 100 companies.  Why:  include this step because candidates want to talk with several interviewers and make it more worthwhile by allotting 20 minutes for candidates to ask the interviewer questions about the job, culture, decision making, what people like and don’t like, etc.

This step rarely eliminates candidates, so after it you still have four finalists.

Step 7:  Conduct tandem Topgrading Interviews.  Why: it’s the “holy grail” of hiring, the most powerful selection tool every created, and thank Jack Welch for approving two interviewers, because GE’s success rate shot up and now thousands of managers know that two heads are 100 times better than one.

Step 8:  Use the Interviewer Feedback Form.  Why:  the two interviewers hit the Pause button to coach each other.  No big thing, but a useful step because they always note a couple of ways their tandem partner could have done a little better.

Step 9:  Candidates arrange reference calls with former bosses.  Assuming the interviewers and the candidates want to move forward, the tandem Topgrading interviews pick which people (mostly bosses) they want to talk with, and the candidates arrange the calls.  Why:  No telephone tag!  This is easy – the candidates call you back with the availability and cell phone numbers.  Better yet – you talk with bosses, not the usual buddies of candidates.

Step 10:  Write and Executive Summary.  You and your tandem partner write your conclusions, strengths, weaker points, and developmental needs.  Why: you have a ton of terrific insights mostly from the tandem Topgrading Interview but also the other sources, and the data analysis will lead to the best conclusions.

It’s late March and you’ve decided which is the best candidate and hired an A player.  Congratulations!

Step 11:  Coach your new hire.  Why:  High performers want coaching and you have terrific insights.  Just share your Executive Summary and the newly hired high performer will write a developmental plan that will assure smooth onboarding and maximum development – the best way to retain high performers.

Step 12:  Company measures hiring success annually.  Why:  the pre-Topgrading and post-Topgrading comparisons make it obvious – those who Topgrade hire two to three times as many high performers and the costs of mis-hires for them plummet.  Non-Topgraders … well … they chug along with 25% high performers hired and high costs of mis-hires.

It’s early April but not April Fool’s Day – chances are very good you’ve hired a high performer.

RECOMMENDED TOPGRADING RESOURCE:  If you’d like to learn more about the key Topgrading steps you might consider the on-line or hard copy one-hour hiring DVD, The Topgrading Advantage.  (Click here) for more information.