Topgrading

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with a client last week, helping train several members of their HR team on effective Topgrading interviewing techniques.  Everyone was trying hard to follow the interview guide, ask good probing questions, and take copious notes…but almost all of them simply talked too much.  Read more »

When we’re talking to individuals or groups about Topgrading, the conversation usually revolves around picking the right people.  We focus a lot on hiring and promoting right.  But what about the A players that already work for you?  Have you told them how much you love them lately? Read more »

Hello fellow and prospective Topgraders!  The long-awaited Topgrading Movie is finally available on YouTube.  It is just under 8 minutes long, and injects a little humor into a subject that many of us take very seriously.  Check it out if you have a bit of free time, or pass the link along to anyone who you think needs some help packing their team with A players.

TRUTH SERUM FOR HIRING

Every hiring manager knows reference checks are generally worthless. The problem is that companies prohibit managers from taking reference calls for fear that if managers say something negative about former employees and those former employees are rejected from jobs, they might sue their former employer.  Candidates know it, so they submit references who are buddies.

Readers familiar with Topgrading know our “truth serum” works at mid-to-upper levels, where reference checks are done, and in this article I’m pleased to announce 3 new revisions that add to its truth serum power.

But what about lower levels, where reference checks aren’t done?  This article describes the Checkster approach, which is effective and inexpensive.  Both approaches have powerful “truth serum” that motivates candidates to tell you the whole truth.

Threat of Reference Check (TORC Technique).

Topgraders all know that candidates are told, from the very first interaction, that in order to get a job offer THEY will eventually have to arrange personal reference calls with bosses (and others).  That’s the “threat” of reference checks.

This scares C players away – good!  C players can’t get their former bosses to talk to you and C players wouldn’t want you to talk with them anyway.  Twenty-five years of experience confirms that high performers CAN get their former bosses to talk and are happy to make the arrangements.

There are several 2009 updates to the Topgrading Career History Form.  As you can see in the Instructions page (below), candidates are told that there are 3 reasons for their having to arrange personal reference calls with bosses:

Understand that if you are applying for a job with a different employer, before a final job offer, you will probably be asked to arrange personal reference calls with bosses (and others).  There are three reasons we ask you to do this:

a)    Your development.  Candid, confidential insights of bosses and others can be used to help you move  smoothly into the next job and can help you create a powerful Individual Development Plan.
b)    Verification.  Confidential reference calls with bosses and others will add credibility to the information you have provided throughout the hiring process.
c)    Ease.  It’s difficult for us to get former bosses and others to talk with us, but high performers CAN arrange for those personal discussions.

And by the way, Topgraders provide thorough developmental coaching to new hires, so the first justification – development of the person – is not a ploy, it’s for real!
The latest version of the Topgrading Career History Form includes two other revisions:  1. estimated boss ratings on the 6 competencies most indicative of high performers, and 2. a statement of what they consider the ideal next job.  All three revisions make sense, right?

The “truth serum” is, of course, the awareness on the part of candidates that THEY will be arranging calls with bosses, so they don’t want to be caught hyping positives and hiding negatives.  So, all candidates (not just the high performers) tell the truth.  (High performers tell the truth; trouble is, before the “truth serum” it was hard for employers … that would be you … to figure out which glowing career accounts were true or false.)

Okay, Topgraders have the “truth serum” when reference checking is done for mid-to-upper levels. But reference checking, at least in large companies, is not done for lower level jobs, so what sort of TORC Technique can there be?  The solution is provided by …

Checkster.

This is the first time I’ve endorsed another company’s product, but the CEO (Yves Lemursi) is a long-time Topgrader and when he told me about his company’s clever reference checking system, I became enthusiastic.

Checkster’s solution:  you conduct simple email 360 surveys for the development of the candidate. You can specifically ask candidates to include their previous bosses.  Those bosses get a typical email survey to complete, with the message that their candid and anonymous feedback will be helpful in the person’s development.  Nothing is mentioned about the person being a candidate for employment.

You as the hiring manager or HR can’t learn which survey respondent said what … but at least you get ratings and comments from the reference sources YOU (rather than the candidate) choose.

Additional benefits are – consistent reports are provided within 48 hours, no telephone tag, and about a $40 charge per candidate (with volume discounts).

And the best news is – it’s super easy to do.  Just enter the name, email and job title in the Checkster tool and clickthe Send button.  The candidate enters the references YOU choose, and 2 days later you have the report.

Click here for information on the Checkster system.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: Rather than C players, there’s the best way on the planet to not hire them to begin with!  Check out the new Topgrading Quick Start Program.  With only an hour of learning you can be using some of the most powerful Topgrading tools, and experiencing the power of Topgrading to dramatically reduce those costly mis-hires.  To learn more click here.

Brad’s recent Topgrading Tips dealt with the subject of the deceptiveness of resumes; nearly every resume that comes through the Human Resources Department portrays an A player, making it extremely difficult to figure out who you should talk to and who does not measure up.  If you are only screening candidates using resumes, you are interacting with too many mediocre candidates on the phone and face-to-face.  Read more »