The ability to hire quality people is one of the most important tasks that any organization will engage. Get that one thing right, and everything else gets a lot easier. Get it wrong, and it could mark the downfall of your business.
After making my first hire in 2002, I’ve been honored to screen and hire 70+ people with varied skill sets including programming, support, admin, marketing, creative, and project management. Looking back over the years, I’ve been very fortunate. At the time, I did what came naturally. Each new interview allowed me to gain experience. Having never received any training on conducting interviews or recruiting, it’s been a pretty good run. However, I did encounter a few failed interviews and hires that would have been nice to have avoided. So how could this journey have been done it differently? Where do you get good training and resources for conducting interviews as a small business leader?
Several months ago, I was fortunate to come in contact with John Kepley, CEO of Teknetex. While meeting with John and conversing about the Nashville tech recruiting scene, he mentioned a book. Who? The A Method for Hiring. Recently, I finished the book on a rather lengthy plane trip to LA. I wish someone had given me this book 10 years ago!
Some high level takeaways
Hire A players. Hire the people that will give you a 90% chance to accomplish what only 10% of the people can achieve.
Follow a process: 1) The Scorecard, 2) Source: Generating a Flow of A Players, 3) Select: The Four Interviews for Spotting A Players, 4) Sell: The Top 5 Ways to Seal the Deal
“Who” is the first book I’ve read with a solid repeatable interview process. While the process I’ve been following for years has proven to yield solid results, I’ve already begun integrating some of the “Who” principles into my process. Thanks Geoff Smart and Randy Street!
