geoff smart session may 16 2010

© 2010 by ghSMART. All rights reserved. www.ghsmart.com

Geoff Smart

CEO, ghSMART

Author of #1 bestselling book on the #1 topic in business

Who: The A Method for Hiring

Co-Creator of Topgrading®, and

Leadership Advisor to Billionaires, Boards, and CEOs

Session Hosted by Verne Harnish

Gazelles, Inc.

May 13, 2010

Important Notice

©2010 ghSMART Executive Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or use of any information-storage or retrieval system, for any purpose without the express written permission of ghSMART, except that purchaser may make paper copies of the Scorecard, Screening Interview Guide, Topgrading Interview® Guide, Focused Interview Guide, and Reference Interview Guide for personal use.

ghSMART® and the ghSMART A Method for Hiring™ are registered trademarks of ghSMART & Company, Inc. Topgrading® and Topgrading Interview® are registered trademarks of Dr. Brad Smart of Smart & Associates, Inc. and ghSMART & Company, Inc.

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1. Hiring mistakes are your #1 problem.

2. On average, managers make hiring mistakes 50% of the time, and each mistake costs 15x the person’s base salary.

3. The A Method is a solution to your #1 problem, and will improve your hiring success rate from 50% to 90%.

4. The A Method has four parts:

• Scorecard – documents exactly what you want a person to accomplish in a role.

• Source – generating a flow of the right candidates.

• Select - structured interviews to gather the relevant facts about a person to rate a scorecard and make an informed hiring decision.

• Sell – an approach for persuading candidates to join.

5. You can do it! You can improve your ability to hire the right people and enjoy your career more, make more money, and have more time.

Summary

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The A Method for HiringTM

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Scorecard ExampleRole: General ManagerMission: RiverCo is a manufacturer of hydro-electric turbines, pumps, and industrial tools. The mission for the General Manager is to grow RiverCo’s largest division from $200M to $400M over the next five years. The General Manager will have full P&L accountability and responsibility for over 300 staff.

Outcomes Ratings and Comments(to be completed after

interview)

1 Grow revenue from $200M to $400M over the next five years, achieving 15% annual growth.

Existing products will represent 80% of this growth.New products will account for the remaining 20%.

A John is currently the VP Sales of a $500M company and has consistently grown revenue by 20% per year.

2 Build a team composed of 90% or more A Players within the next three years (currently about 20%).

• Ensure 100% of direct reports are A Players within a year.

• Ensure consistent use of the A Method for Hiring in division.

A This is a strength. John consistently evaluates his team, brings in A Players, and develops his people.

3 Expand capacity to accommodate 15% annual growth.

Current plant nearing capacity. Expansion must be obtained through operational efficiencies.

B John understands operations enough to know how sales impacts capacity, but has limited experience in a plant.

Competencies Ratings and Comments

Hires A players A

Analytical skills A

Creative/innovative B Slow to recognize new ways of doing things

Persistent A

Open to criticism and others’ ideas B Does not listen to ideas from others which

could inhibit his ability to address plant capacity

given his lack of experience there.

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Build Your Scorecard

Mission

Outcomes Ratings and Comments

Competencies Ratings and Comments

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Sourcing Challenge

Seeking ReferralsName 10 contacts of whom you can ask, “Who are the most talented

people you know that I should consider hiring?”

1. ___________________

2. ___________________

3. ___________________

4. ___________________

5. ___________________

6. ___________________

7. ___________________

8. ___________________

9. ___________________

10.___________________

I will commit to calling at least one of these contacts a week until I have

called them all (Yes/No).

Recruiting Bounty:

I will consider offering employees a referral bounty for recruiting of

$_________ and make a go/no go decision by ________(date).

Deputize Friends:

I will consider offering external Recruiting Deputies $________ for

recruiting viable candidates.

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The Screening Interview

1. What are your career goals?

2. What are you really good at professionally?

Please give me some examples.

3. What are you not good at or not interested in?


4. Who were your last 5 bosses, and how will they

each rate your performance when we talk with

them (1-10)? Why?

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The Topgrading Interview®

Education: High and low points for high school, university, and graduate school (5 minutes per school).

What are your career goals for the future (10 minutes)?

For each job in the past 15 years (20-30 minutes per job)

1. What were you hired to do?

2. What accomplishments are you most proud of?

3. What were some low points during that job?

4. Who were the people you worked with? Specifically:

• Bosses: What was your boss’s name? How do you

spell that? What was it like working with him/her?

What will he/she say were your biggest strengths?

Areas for improvement?

• Teams: How would you rate the team you inherited

on an A, B, C scale? What changes did you make?

Did you hire anybody? Fire anybody? How would you

rate the team on an A, B, C scale when you left?

5. Why did you leave that job?

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The Focused Interview

1. The purpose of this interview is to talk about

________ (one or more key outcomes or

competencies).

2. What are some of the biggest

accomplishments you have had in this area?

3. What are your biggest mistakes and lessons

learned in this area?

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The Reference Interview

1. In what context did you work with the person?

2. What were the person’s biggest strengths?


3. What were some of the person’s biggest areas

for improvement back then? Please give me

some examples.

4. How would you rate their overall performance

in that job (1-10)?

5. The person mentioned that they struggled in

that job with ______ (e.g. hitting their gross

margin targets); tell me more about that.

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The 5Fs of Selling

Fit. Ties the company’s vision, needs, and culture together with the candidate’s goals, strengths, and values. “Here is where we are going as a company, and here is how you fit in.”

Family. Takes into account the broader trauma to the family of changing jobs. “What can we do to make this change as easy as possible for your family?”

Freedom. Is the autonomy the candidate will have to make his or her own decisions. “I will give you ample freedom to make decisions, and I will not micromanage you.”

Fortune. Reflects the stability of your company and overall financial upside. “Here’s what you can make if you accomplish your objectives.”

Fun. Describes the work environment and personal relationships the candidate will make. “I think you will find this culture one that you will really enjoy.”

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What Have You Decided?

What I learned:

What I will do:

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geoff smart session may 16 2010

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