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Topgrading (How To Hire, Coach and Keep A Players) (Hardcover)
by Brad Smart
| Category:
People development, Star performers, Corporate success, Human Resources |
| Market price: ¥ 330.00
MSL price:
¥ 298.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A best-practices manual for developing outstanding personnel pool, the book is based on more than 4,000 interviews and case studies conducted by Smart at major corporations like General Electric. |
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Author: Brad Smart
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; 2 edition
Pub. in: April, 2005
ISBN: 1591840813
Pages: 592
Measurements: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00963
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1591840817
Language: American English
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- Awards & Credential -
One of the highest recommended people/HR books for recruiters, executives, and small business owners. |
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- MSL Picks -
Smart formulated what he calls the Chronological In-Depth Structured (CIDS) interview approach. After studying 4,000 managers in relation to (on average) ten different jobs per manager, he arrived at a number of conclusions. They serve as the core material of this book in which he explains how both companies and individuals can gain and then hold a competitive advantage which Peter Drucker identifies as follows: "The ability to make good decisions regarding people represents one of the last reliable sources of competitive advantage, since very few organizations are very good at it." As Smart carefully explains, topgrading is the practice of packing any team with A players and clearing out the C players. "A player [italics] is defined as the top 10 percent of talent available at all salary levels - best of class. With this radical definition, you are not a topgrader until your team consists of all A players [last three words in italics]. Period." Those who read this book and then apply the principles, strategies, and tactics which Smart recommends will be well-prepared to (a) hire only A players or those almost certain to become one and (b) those who are or wish to become A players and need expert guidance to achieve that objective.
For me, the most stunning revelations in the book are found on page 50, in Figure 3.2, "Cost of Miss-Hire Study Results." According to the results of Smart's research study of more than 50 corporations, the sum of costs of a mis-hire (on average) are as follows:
Base salary Less than $100,000: 14 times salary
Base Salary $100,000-250,000: 28 times salary
All Salaries: 24 times salary
Now go back and re-read those statistics while keeping in mind that, for various reasons which Smart briefly explains, "the numbers are probably conservative." Organizing his material within two Parts (one for companies, another for individuals), Smart offers a cohesive and comprehensive narrative within which he includes all manner of graphic illustrations as well as a number of exercises and questionnaires which enable both those who hire and those who are candidates to understand what topgrading is, what the CIDS interview approach is and how to derive the greatest benefits from it.
Most important of all), Smart explains how to achieve what Jim Collins describes so well in his most recently published book: the good to companies "...first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats - and then they figured out where to drive it. The old adage 'People are the most important asset' turned out to be wrong. People are not [italics] your most important asset. The right [italics] people are." Presumably Smart would agree that the right people share the same values and, together, sustain their organization's commitment to those values. If involved in their organization's recruiting and interviewing process, as they should be, they will help to ensure that the right people will be hired (i.e. allowed on the "bus"). Obviously it is important to get talent and task in proper alignment. It is equally important to keep an organization's values in proper alignment with its objective(s). Although Collins does not use the term, the good to great companies he discusses are all topgraders.
The reader will especially appreciate having the information provided by Smart in (count `em) seven appendices: CIDS Interview Guide, Career History Form, In-Depth Reference-Check Guide, Interview Feedback Form, Sample Competencies - Management, and Sample Competencies - Wm. M. Mercer. Here in a single volume is about all anyone needs to know and have inorder to understand what topgrading is, how it works, and why it will probably be essential to those who hire as well as to those whom they consider.
Lest there be any misunderstanding by anyone reading this review, I want to point out that any organization (regardless of size or nature) can be a topgrader and that is even more important to smaller organizations with limited resources. Why? Because the cost of a miss-hire could be catastrophic, not only in terms of total compensation but also in terms of mistakes, failures, alienated customers, lost business, wasted opportunities, and disruption of the workplace. Some may respond, "I cannot afford to hire all A players even if I could find them!" On Smart's behalf, I presume to reply that no organization can afford NOT to hire only A players or those who, with proper development and supervision, can become A players.
(From quoting Robert Morris, USA)
Target readers:
Recruiting managers, executive search consultants, HR consultants, executives, managers, entrepreneurs and MBAs.
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Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D., is the president of Smart & Associates, Inc., based in the Chicago area. A well-known industrial psychologist and consultant with nearly thirty-five years in practice, he has worked with dozens of major companies, including General Electric, Bank of America, and John Deere.
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From the publisher
Great companies don’t just depend on strategies - they depend on people. The more great people on your team, the more successful your organization will be. But that’s easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment decisions result in a mishire: The wrong person winds up in the wrong job. But companies that have followed Bradford Smart’s advice in Topgrading have boosted their successful hiring rate to 90 percent or better, giving them an unbeatable competitive advantage.
Now Smart has fully revised his 1999 management classic to reintroduce the topgrading concept, which works for companies large and small in any industry. The author spells out his practical approach to finding and managing A-level talent - as well as coaching B players to turn them into A players. He provides intriguing case studies drawn from more than four thousand in-depth interviews.
As Smart writes in his introduction, “All organizations, all businesses live or die mostly on their talent, and any manager who fails to topgrade is nuts, or a C player... Those who, way deep down, would sooner see an organization die than nudge an incompetent person out of a job should not read this book... Topgrading is for A players and all those aspiring to be A players.”
The lesson is simple: managers who topgrade become leaders - "A" players - achieving success not only for their companies but for themselves.
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"After studying literally thousands of successful and failed careers, and over one hundred successful and failed companies, one overriding factor emerges: talent. Human capital. The single most important driver of organizational performance and individual managerial success is talent. The ability to actually do what every company and every manager professes to do-hire the best-is what distinguishes premier companies from mediocre firms, successful versus ordinary careers. The vast majority of organizations and managers simply can't figure out how to overcome the many obstacles to packing their team with A players...Topgrading shows you how premier companies such as General Electric gain a talent advantage, how every manager can benefit from learning leading-edge techniques. Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of GE, said, 'The reality is, we simply cannot afford to field anything but teams of A players.'"
From the book |
"Everyone wants to know the key to individual and corporate success. I think I know. Forty-thousand case studies devoted to scrutinizing 50 competencies provide some clues. Jack Welch of GE asked me which, of all those competencies, was the single most important for helping someone become an A player. Larry Bossidy of AlliedSignal asked the same question. So did Ted Waitt, CEO and largest shareholder of Gateway. After the CIDS interview, managers frequently say, 'Wow, Doc, since you've been studying careers in such detail for so many years, can you give me the secret to success?' Yup. Topgrading. Selecting A players and removing C players. Because talent wins."
From the book |
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| View all 10 comments |
Donald Mitchell (MSL quote), USA
<2007-09-08 00:00>
Computers and equipment are wonderful tools, but people make the difference. Many companies are too little focused on hiring the best. Research consistently shows that the best 25 percent in any population produce over 80 percent of the economic results. Yet the cost to hire and keep them is much less than the benefit. TOPGRADING is built around that insight. TOPGRADING makes it clear just how valuable it is to hire and work with the best. The mistakes you will avoid make the investment very valuable. Early in our company's history, we did a statistical analysis of how many candidates we had to seriously consider before we could assume that we had seen an outstanding one. It was over 140. Now, most people would stop long before then and will usually hire someone who is not a top performer. TOPGRADING helps with this problem by providing you with a process that reduces that number a lot, but still ensures that you will be able to hire the best. I was very impressed with this book. I think it is one of the few books that goes beyond the current best practice to establish a new and higher standard in any field. It is certainly the only one I have seen that sets a higher standard in hiring. You would be very foolish if you did not read and apply the messages of this book. Some few geniuses may be able to hire the best using intuition, but for the rest of us there's TOPGRADING. When the history of many companies is written in the future, a key turning point will be the day that TOPGRADING was first applied. I wish that I had had this book available 22 years ago when I established my consulting firm! I have recently discussed this book with a number of business executives, and they each found the book to be as valuable as I did. Banish stalled thinking about hiring, and use this process. If you are not years ahead of the competition, the lack of this process could be a major contributing cause. Think about it. |
Alan (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-23 00:00>
This book is an important work for me. As an entrepeneur, the book contained the information that I needed. A major part of the achievement puzzle.
For those who read this review, the three pieces of knowledge I deemed most valueable are as follows:
1. Hire the top 10% of the people out there who are willilng to work for the wage offered. This book helps pinpoint characteristics of people most suitable thru a long interview section in the back of the book. I think its pretty darn accurate.
2. A players. B players. C & D players. Some B players cannot be converted to A. Some B are only B. C players cannot be converted to a B player. D players are D players pernamently. Certain personal characteristics of thinking indicate if you are A, B,C or D. Great Stuff! After reading this book I fell out of love with all the people around me, and proceeded to top grade my company. I strongly disagree with who ever the perplexed indivdual was who wrote in the customer review that this book - not to waste your money. Well, this book helped me waste my money all the way to the bank!
3. In general you should employ fewer people, and pay them more, to do more.
Read the interview guide. I never considered spending 5 hours with a person to really dig deep and elicit characteristics with leading questions. I always thought an hour interview would be a long one. The book can be a yawner at parts but it gets going after the first few chapters. Great Book! The book has value. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-23 00:00>
Smart comes off like a pretty hard nosed SOB in the first half of this book. He doesn't seem to talk much about how to correct problems other than firing people. The second half has a great couple of chapters on coaching for excellence which were inspiring to me. I'd like a full book just on this topic from Smart, his matter-of-fact approach is refreshing.
Buy this book if you are an up and coming manager in search of ways to really make yourself an even stronger contributor (by having only the best work for you). |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-23 00:00>
This book represents the mentality we should all be in if we want to succeed as leaders. All too often we settle for someone to "fill the position" rather than using effective tools to interview and hire the best employees. Mr. Smart provides us with a new perspective on how we should approach hiring people to work for us, this includes CEO's. The cost of mis-hires is staggering. Look around your own workplace and see if you can separate the A players from the C players. One thing stands out in my mind, C players don't hire A players. So if you have C player management you will have to settle with mediocrity until something drastic happens - topgrading! |
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