Textbooks
are not always the most exciting read. And Dr. Bradford
Smart's book, Topgrading, is not the most rousing of textbooks,
even. But, that said, it may well be that Topgrading - if
you are in the recruiting world and if you read it with
the right kind of attention - is the most important book
ever written!
His
thesis is simple. Take any job function - and this is key
- and then set the pay rate: for example lets say VP Marketing,
$135,000 total compensation. Next, break the field of performers
down, by performance alone, into ranks of A, B & C so
that the top performing 10% are the A players, the following
25% are the B's, and the bottom 65% are C players. Now his
shocking conclusions follow. First (follow the math here)
you pay the same for C players as you do for A's. And second,
you can have all A players in your company. This second
conclusion, though, demands that you consider your competitions'
employees as part of the overall field.
Holly
Cow, did you say ALL A player's? That's his point. And at
the same rate of payout as companies with B and C players,
to boot!
If
Dr. Smart is right this may well turn - over the coming
decades - the entire manner in which we hire, train, manage,
let go, replace and retain employees on its head.
The
Topgrading hypothesis has a tremendous track record with
world-class executives and companies, including Jack Welch
and GE. And yes, Jack Welch, himself, was Dr. Smart's client.
It is no exaggeration to say that the practices outlined
in this book have already begun their march throughout the
corporate world.
Beyond
the basic structure of his hypothesis, there is a single
most important contribution this seminal book offers. Surprisingly,
what we find hidden within this book is the basis of a new
and deeper ethics of performance. A new and deeper ethics
of value and relationship between company and employee.
Our work, and the performance of the companies we work for,
ends up as the outcome of the morals and values we employ
in building that performance. No, Dr. Smart does not directly
attack this point, but a sensitive reading leads one, inevitably,
to a moral assessment of performance, and pay.
As
the theme of performance is followed, throughout the book,
Dr. Smart also guides us through his method of assessing
and developing skills. He centers on how to attain a balanced
life as well as learning from our weaknesses, in contrast
to the more common counsel of highlighting our strengths.
He also leads us through a coaching and mentoring sequence
worthy of true study. His two chapters in the middle of
the book (chapters 7 & 8), focusing on the application
of Topgrading to our lives and careers are the highlight
of the book, and the best material on the subject of performance
I have ever read.
The
book concludes with a sustained and detailed exploration
of Dr. Smart's method of interviewing, called "CIDS".
CIDS (Chronological In-depth Structured) Interviewing is
based in significant part on TORC (Threat Of Reference Check),
which he likens to truth serum. Clearly this is not for
the feint of heart, and Dr. Smart's boldness and gutsy structures
surely demand respect. Unfortunately, I must admit that
I suspect it may actually take Dr. Smart himself to fully
unleash the power of his interviewing approach. Yet, in
moderated form, bits and pieces - and of course the strength
and spirit of the approach - will surely improve any interviewing
practice.
But
to return to the most important point. The ethics of performance
that Dr. Smart has given birth to here hold the potential
to wildly transform what we do for the better, if we are
good enough students to learn what he has offered to teach
us.
