Who?

Key Takeaways

1. Who mistakes happen when managers are
   1. are unclear in what is needed for a job
   2. Have weak talent flow
   3. Aren’t confident in what a great candidate looks like
   4. Loses great candidates they want
2. Voodoo hiring tactics
   1. The art critic – don’t hire solely based on intuition
   2. Sponge – don’t let everyone interview a candidate, make the most of everyone’s time
   3. Prosecutor – don’t aggressively interview or try to trick
   4. Suitor – don’t oversell the job or company
   5. Trickster – don’t try to trip up the candidate
   6. Animal lover – don’t have pet questions that you oversight
   7. Chatterbox – don’t have too much friendly chatter
   8. Personality tester – don’t overweight psychological or personality tests
   9. Aptitude – shouldn’t be the sole determinant
   10. Fortune teller – avoid too many hypothetical questions
3. The A Player Method – A players are those who have at least a 90% chance of succeeding in the role you’ve defined
   1. Scorecard – exactly what you want someone to accomplish in a role (not a JD but outcomes and processes of a job done well)
      1. Mission of job – why the role exists and how it ladders into company vision and mission,
         1. Short, specific, and understandable
         2. Translates strategy to tactics and brings alignment and clarity, sets expectations, makes personnel reviews easier
         3. VP sales – increase revenue through direct sales outreach
         4. Share scorecard with hiring team and managers to get buy in
         5. Know precisely what you want as it relates to Geography, Experience, Technical and non-technical skills, must-haves vs. nice-to-haves
         6. Employee value prop – mission, momentum, team, culture, ownership, salary (probably not salary as much)
      2. Outcome – not activities, make them objective and observable, what must be accomplished
      3. Competencies – how you expect the candidate to operate to achieve the outcomes, job fit and cultural fit. Efficiency, honesty, integrity, organization and planning, bias for action, follow through, intelligence, analytical skills, attention to detail, persistence, proactive, ability to hire other A players, develop A players, flexibility and adaptability, calm under pressure, strategic, work ethic, creative, high standards, active listener, open to criticism and ideas, good communicator, good teammate, persuasive, coachable, committed, low ego, curious, cultural fit
   2. Source – systematic sourcing so you have a great pipeline before you need them
      1. Too way to source us to ask for referrals from your personal and professional network. Keep warm ties with as many talented candidates as you can. Always ask people for intros to the most talented people they know that you should hire.
      2. External recruiting firm and recruiting researcher are helpful too. Internal recruiters good too
      3. Referrals from employees – provide incentives and targets to hit for promotions
      4. External deputies – unofficial recruiters who you compensate for successful hires
      5. Set aside 30 minutes every week to keep in touch with top talent
   3. Select – structure interviews so you can get the information you need to complete your scorecard
      1. Screening – weeding out B and C players. You’d rather miss some A players than waste a ton of time with people who aren’t A players.
      2. Top rating – for each job for the past 15 years – what hires did you make, what accomplishment most proud of, what some low points, people you worked with (boss especially and what they’d say, what changes did you make the team), why did you leave that job?
      3. Fit
         1. Focused interview – ask candidate specific questions around ____, with other teammates, biggest accomplishments and what they are, mistakes and lessons in that area
         2. Selling fit is one of the best ways to land a candidate. They have to become part of the team and mission before they join
      4. References
         1. Choose right references – 2 bosses, 3 peers, 2 subordinates – and ask the candidate to put you in touch. Ask about strengths and weaknesses, rating of 1-10 and why did you give that number,
   4. Sell – how to persuade the best people to join
      1. 5 F’s – Financial, fun, freedom, family, fit
      2. Go visit candidates in person to land them. Once you’re at this stage, it’s as much about selling the spouse / partner / kids as the candidate themselves

What I got out of it

1. One of the most pragmatic guides on how to hire A players reliably