Topgrading
How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and
Keeping the Best People
Author: Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
Publisher: Prentice Hall Press,
New York, New York
Date of Publication: 1999
ISBN: 0-7352-0049-1
Number of Pages: 288 pages
About the Author
Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
Dr. Bradford D. Smart completed
his doctorate in Industrial
Psychology at Purdue University in
1970, entered consulting, and since
1972, has been in private practice as
President of Smart & Associates,
Inc., based in the Chicago area.
Brad is world renowned for his
executive assessment and coaching
work that has topgraded executive
teams. The resulting improvements
in company performance have been
featured on the cover of The Wall
Street Journal and in three Fortune
articles.
The Big Idea
Companies that mis-hire its most important resourcethe people-can result in financial drain and inefficiency. Topgrading enable
companies to recruit, hire and keep the best people for the right job
to get excellent results. The book, being a must read for human
resource managers who rely on people to get things done,
illustrates companies and even individuals aspiring to be an A
player and how to become one. Combined with coaching on the
job, people can be topgraded if external recruitment is not an
option. Topgrading offers insights on motivating people using its
4,000 in-depth interviews. Companies that want positive results
and stay competitive in the future must invest in the right talent.
Part 1: Topgrading for Companies
Chapter 1: Topgrading: Every Managers Number One Priority
Topgrading means hiring the best people for any job. For a
topgraded company this means hiring A Players or enhancing the
skills of its B Players and getting rid of its C Players. Topgrading
today is a company's priority because globalization has opened a
whole new playing field that allowed more companies to enter and
compete in a crowded marketplace, where even mediocre
companies and their products sometimes succeed.
To beat competition, companies must topgrade their human talents
since a team of A Players can produce competitive results while a
Published by BusinessSummaries, Building 3005 Unit 258, 4440 NW 73rd Ave, Miami, Florida 33166
2003 BusinessSummaries All rights reserved. No part of this summary may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior notice of
BusinessSummaries.com
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
mediocre team of B and C Players can be disastrous to a company. A checklist of
questions and results in this chapter can show whether a company or person is a
topgrader candidate.
Chapter 2: Obstacles to Topgrading: How to Overcome Them
Larry Bossidy, CEO of Alliedsignal, said: At the end of the day, you bet on people,
not on strategies. Prior to topgrading, managers should know obstacles to its
implementation and what solutions can be employed. These are:
C Players don't hire A Players. Solution: Require C players to hire A players
and oversee the selection process.
We think we are hiring A Players, but they turn out to be C Players in
disguise. Solution: Perform more accurate assessment using at least one
Chronological In-Depth Structured (CIDS) interview.
Our human resources people are overworked and understaffed, so we do
not exactly have a pipeline of A Players going through the office. Solution:
Do more recruitment and define all management jobs that cover the ongoing
recruitment.
Search firms just don't produce enough A Player candidates. Solution:
Manage the search process including that of search firms much more
thoroughly.
I want to raise the performance bar but almost every talented person I bring
in from the outside is rejected by the current culture and ends up quitting.
Solution: Provide A Players air cover, protection from undermining by
existing personnel.
We can't afford to hire A Players. Solution: Yes, you can - you already pay
for all A Players.
I do not want to fire loyal C Players. Redeploy chronic C Players anyway.
Our problems will soon clear up because we engaged a management
consulting firm, and their report looks great, so topgrading isn't necessary.
Solution: Topgrade first.
We could never attract A Players because of our location, industry, current
financial problems, and so on. Solution: pay better compensation to attract
the level of talent necessary to beat competition. Or if location is a terrible
recruitment obstacle, consider moving.
My subordinates tend to give 'thumbs-down' on A Players. Solution: Don't
vote. Make the hiring decision yourself.
We are downsizing and my job is on the line; I need short-term results and
do not have time to topgrade. Solution: Improve short-term results by
topgrading.
Chapter 3: The Astronomical Costs of Mis-Hires: Company Killers and
Career Derailers
If managers are not convinced yet that they should topgrade their people, then
[2]
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
numerous studies should convince them of the significant costs of keeping C Players
since these players make more mistakes and bad decisions. Thus, mis-placements
become displacements, requiring replacements in the end.
If a company repeats mis-hiring, then the cost of retraining and handing out salaries
to the wrong person goes up. On the average, a person with a base salary of say
$114,000 for a mis-hire can cost a company $2,709,000 or 24 times the person's
base compensation. And this is just for a person who stayed two years in the
company.
The cost can even go higher if a mis-hire involves a person without integrity - people
who take kickbacks for example could cost the company bad public relations
including losing clients in the process. Worst, if the company is totally devastated by
bad publicity then it may have to close shop. The importance of topgrading is not only
to hire the right people with talent but also with integrity.
Chapter 4: Firing C Players: Is It Immoral?
One of the dilemmas faced by managers is not just the process of hiring (or mishiring) but of firing C players as well. The process of firing is painful but there is no
way to go about it. Sooner of later, a manager has to do this firing process.
For most companies that desire to keep C Players, this situation is further aggravated
when a company adopts topgrading. Ninety percent of companies before topgrading
have 54 percent of their people classified as C Players.
The question is 'Is it immoral to fire C Players? The answer should be: It is immoral
not to fire C Players. Because the very future of the company is at stake, getting rid of
C Players and replacing them with A Players is therefore paramount.
A firing model involves two issues:
Ease of making the decision. This involves issues such as second chances
given to C Players, confronting issues, procrastination and so on. What is
important is a decision has to be made.
Ease of implementing the decision. The hard part of course is implementing
the decision. Here, different stereotyped personalities can do this: the
hatchet person, the topgrader, the ostrich and the wimp. The best person to
implement it of course is the topgrader.
Not all C Players can be fired. They can be redeployed in areas where their talents
are better suited. Companies should protect themselves when a C Person really has
to go. Firing a person is never pleasant but doing this for the sake of the company
makes it necessary.
Chapter 5: Recruitment Best Practices: How to Avoid Mis-Hires
In a study conducted, most mis-hires are blamed on recruitment with external
[3]
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
recruiters or agencies doing a poor job of matching the right talent to the right
company. To avoid mis-hires, the company must be in charge of the recruitment
process. This means the CEO, the managers, and the human resource managers
must take time to examine a likely candidate not just through interviews but also with
a battery of tests using the model interview sheet provided in the chapter.
Chapter 6: Case Studies: How to Topgrade
Three examples of successful companies who have topgraded are shown in this
chapter. These examples can serve as models for companies who are serious in
improving their performance through topgrading.
Part 2: Topgrading for individuals
Chapter 7: Becoming an A Player: Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too
To become an A Player one has to face facts and create a balance with his or her job
and personal life. An A Player candidate must avoid bad career planning advices that
are the causes of poor performance:
Working harder.
Living beyond your means.
Never passing up a job opportunity that you cannot pass up.
Hiding your negatives in job interviews.
Developing your strengths to the max.
Not investing in time to overcome your shortcomings.
An A Player must be aware of the nine key tips to achieving happiness:
Perform a periodic Life-Balance review, and focus on becoming good
enough in all seven critical life dimensions (career success, wellness,
relationships, giving something back, financial independence, spiritual
grounding, and recreation).
Perform a periodic personal-career review.
Always live below your means.
Accept jobs where you can be an A Player.
Work on overcoming your weaker points more than maximizing your
strengths.
Develop A Player competencies before you need them.
In job interviews, reveal negatives.
Question whether big company life is for you.
Topgrade, in business and in personal life.
[4]
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
Chapter 8: Fixing Your Weaknesses: The Straight Path to Success
Fixing weaknesses instead of maximizing strengths is the best approach to become
an A Player. Weaknesses affect a person's performance on the job while strengths
may not be able to fix these. By drawing up a fix-my-weakness plan, a person can
become an A Player.
An A Player candidate must review 50 management competencies and be aware of
the 10 career derailers related to needed competencies which are:
Integrity
Initiative
Ambition
Political Savvy
Adaptability
Team Builder
Team Player
Track Record
Intelligence
Likeability
A person serious to become an A Player must review his weaknesses and fix it
immediately. By knowing the derailers and how these affect management
competencies, a person has a better chance of improving his weaknesses.
Chapter 9: Coaching 101: The CIDS-Based Model
Coaching is now a major part of today's corporate culture since human resources
and talent have become an important asset to produce excellent results. Coaching,
by definition, is a dialogue between the coach and the person being coached. It is
describe as counselling, mentoring, teaching or confronting.
The challenge in coaching is to produce good coaches since today's many managers
possess little or no skills. In the CIDS-based model that use the CIDS interview sheet
to unlock weaknesses and work on those weaknesses, a coach and the person
being coached can produce A Players in the process. The characteristics of a supercoach, or what a coach should be:
Acts like a partner
Promotes autonomy
Is positive
Trustworthy
Caring
Patient
Results-oriented
Has perspective
Authoritative
An active listener
[5]
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
There are seven steps to change, be it coaching a new employee or a B Player. By
being aware of these seven stages, coaches can identify problems and offer
solutions during the coaching period. The seven stages are:
Awareness. I seem to have a need for change.
Acceptance. I definitely need to change.
Commitment. I not only own the problem, I own responsibility to fix it.
Program for development. I fully embrace this program, with specific
activities.
Reinforcement. I need internal and/or external reinforcement---feedback,
crocodiles and fast food---for maximum growth.
Monitoring progress. I embrace measurement of my progress.'
Conclusion: I've fixed this problem; while recognizing that for some issues a lifelong
effort is necessary. I have achieved the specific goal of eliminating a potential career
derailer.
Chapter 10: Case Studies: Coaching to Fix Weaknesses
Just like in Part 1, Part 2 ends with three case studies. The cases show how three
different managers from real-life companies managed different issues. One case
deals with coaching, the other with leadership and the other a mis-hire. Insights from
these cases can be adopted by individuals or companies aspiring to produce A
Players.
Part 3: CIDS Interviewing
Chapter 11: Your Most Powerful Tool: The CIDS Interview Guide
At the heart of topgrading is the CIDS Interview Guide. This guide was designed and
used in thousands of interviews spanning years in the process. The results helped
weed out C Players and identify potential A Players. A manager planning to
implement topgrading should use this guide at all times. It may take practice and time
but getting A Players can be done.
Chapter 12: Mastering CIDS Interviewing: Advanced Interviewing Tactics
Aside from using the CIDS Interview Guide, advanced interview tactics can also help
to produce better results. Techniques like Bonding, and TORC (Threat of
Reference Checks) to reveal negatives of an interviewee are explained here.
Getting the negatives out early in the open is important as it will determine the
candidate's state of mind. Part of the interview process also includes reviewing not
only the data but also how to interpret all of it. In any interview, the following tips can
help reveal a lot about an individual:
[6]
Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
Adhere to basics.
Look for patterns.
Assume that strengths can become shortcomings.
Assume recent past behaviour is the best predictor of near-future behaviour.
Assume all behaviour is motivated.
Spot red flags and gaps and look for explanations.
Assume that people can change when they have changed.
Look for attributions and evaluations.
Weigh negatives more heavily than positives.
Watch out for strong feelings and beliefs.
By using the CIDS Interview Guide, a person's attitude, performance and even
future performance can be examined. Writing it down in the form of a report would
help the company or the coach determine whether a candidate is fit or not since the
report can be examined and compared with later actions.
Chapter 13: Avoiding Legal Problems: A Bulletproof Approach
This last chapter deals with legalities of hiring and firing people since companies that
implement topgrading must either hire or fire people. Promotions based on
topgrading can also have legal implications.
To avoid complications later, steps are discussed with respect to safe hiring and
firing practices. For safe hiring practices, these steps are performing a thorough job
analysis; writing a job description with behavioural competencies; and using nondiscriminatory language in all communications.
Safe firing practices include making promises that a company cannot keep and
document non-performance before firing an employee. Other specific issues of firing
are discussed here and what to do about it.
Safe hiring and firing must involve consulting lawyers with legal backgrounds. While
topgrading is a good strategy to make a company grow, it should never be at the
expense of a wrong decision.
To sum up, topgrading is an excellent strategy that should be implemented today by
companies who wish to excel in a competitive global arena. The key to topgrading is
finding the right talent, A Players, either inside the company or outside.
Through continuous coaching, training, and mentoring, it is best for companies to
keep A Players since companies gain efficiency and profits in the long run with them
than with C Players.
Topgrading is therefore the wave of the future if companies and individuals want to
survive, be competitive and reap profits in the long run.
[7]
ABOUT BUSINESSSUMMARIES BusinessSummaries.com is a business book summaries service. Every week, it sends out
to subscribers a 9- to 12-page summary of a best-selling business book chosen from among the hundreds of books printed out
in the United States every week. For more information, please go to http://www.bizsum.com.
