“A” talent doesn’t want to work for “B” talent. The book The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent, reveals an underlying truth of many organizations: it’s not bad companies that cause people to leave, but bad leaders. Compensation and purpose can only go so far to offset mediocre leadership.
A talent-dense company isn’t a family. In his book, No Rules Rules, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings describes the necessity of firing a good employee to get a great employee. It’s odd to think about removing a good employee, because isn’t that good enough? Not for the best companies. The bigger lesson is even broader: is comfort being prioritized over getting better? Because getting better as an organization means making tough choices, even on good people.
The goal isn’t low turnover, it’s the right turnover. From the book No Ego, How Leaders can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results by Cy Wakeman. Many companies celebrate low team turnover. But is that really the right metric? Low turnover is great only if the people are great. Achieving the mission is the prize, which may or may not be helped by low turnover. The question is, would some turnover actually accelerate your progress?
If you’re not dying to make an offer, don’t. The hiring process can be arduous so there’s a tendency to settle for okay candidates to get closure. But that’s a mistake, because the agony of tolerating a middling performer is far greater than an extended hiring process. Don’t swap short-term hiring pain for decades of long-term management pain.
Is this person a force of nature? In his article How to be Successful, Sam Altman talks about finding people who are a “force of nature.” That is, someone with S-tier level internal drive and agency. Those that just flat-out produce at a higher level, that get things done and generate unique insights, all without having to be told to do so. Getting these people to work is never the concern, rather it’s about channeling their skills in the right direction and keeping them motivated. So ask yourself, how many colleagues fit this description?
Look at the jaggedness of the person. The hiring process usually focuses on safe, predictable accomplishments like grades, schools, and past employers. The exceptional will often have those traditional accomplishments but will then have something extra that others don’t. They will have put their own personal touch on their accomplishments, choosing individuality and creativity over what’s safe. Iconoclastic thinkers don’t fit well into a predictable mold.
Find your “bar raisers.” In his book The Everything Store, Brad Stone highlights Amazon’s “bar raisers,” a small group that had a knack for recruiting talent and were the key to sourcing exceptional people. Remarkable talent isn’t found through resumes and traditional HR channels. Instead, it’s tracked down by a select group of colleagues that can separate the phenomenal from the fake. Fake talent can fool HR screens and average managers. Real talent knows real talent.
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