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Who: The A Method for Hiring Kindle Edition

by Geoff Smart (Author), Randy Street (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,411 ratings
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In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls “the single biggest problem in business today”: unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent.

The silver lining is that “who” problems are easily preventable. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs, Who presents Smart and Street’s A Method for Hiring. Refined through the largest research study of its kind ever undertaken, the A Method stresses fundamental elements that anyone can implement–and it has a 90 percent success rate.

Whether you’re a member of a board of directors looking for a new CEO, the owner of a small business searching for the right people to make your company grow, or a parent in need of a new babysitter, it’s all about Who. Inside you’ll learn how to

• avoid common “voodoo hiring” methods
• define the outcomes you seek
• generate a flow of A Players to your team–by implementing the #1 tactic used by successful businesspeople
• ask the right interview questions to dramatically improve your ability to quickly distinguish an A Player from a B or C candidate
• attract the person you want to hire, by emphasizing the points the candidate cares about most

In business, you are who you hire. In Who, Geoff Smart and Randy Street offer simple, easy-to-follow steps that will put the right people in place for optimal success.


From the Hardcover edition.
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  1. Print length
    210 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Ballantine Books
  5. Publication date
    August 19, 2008
  6. File size
    1419 KB
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Popular Highlights in this book
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  1. Scorecards describe the mission for the position, outcomes that must be accomplished, and competencies that fit with both the culture of the company and the role.
    Highlighted by 6,098 Kindle readers
  2. Outcomes, the second part of a scorecard, describe what a person needs to accomplish in a role. Most of the jobs for which we hire have three to eight outcomes, ranked by order of importance.
    Highlighted by 5,669 Kindle readers
  3. We define an A Player this way: a candidate who has at least a 90 percent chance of achieving a set of outcomes that only the top 10 percent of possible candidates could achieve.
    Highlighted by 5,655 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Think of Who as the literal and figurative son of TopGrading (2005), by Brad Smart. Coaches and consultants Smart and Street have broadened the how-to-hire process from interviews to a 360-degree perspective on recruiting A players. It’s a compelling read for many reasons: the research is solid and expansive, based on actual work, CEO/top-management interviews, and statistics analyses from a top graduate business school. It’s simple: instead of 6 reasons here and 10 steps there, the authors boil down their recommendations into a 4-step process, from scorecard and source to select and sell. Who wouldn’t like to read stories from well-known CEOs like George Buckley of 3M, opening up the mysterious method of executive hiring? And finally, it’s a book laced with humor; anecdotes about interviewees who’ve told their stories all too well are not only laughable but memorable, too—for all the right reasons. Like the candidate who bugged his boss’ office because he never received any performance appraisals. Intended for executive readers—and human resources’ follow-through. --Barbara Jacobs

Review

“Seventy percent of the game is finding the right people, putting them in the right position, listening to them, and alleviating what gets in their way. Whois a practical guide to making sure you get the right people to start with! Excellent advice and guide.”–Robert Gillette, president and CEO, Honeywell Aerospace

“Geoff Smart and Randy Street have done an amazing job distilling the best advice from some of the world’s most successful business leaders.”–Wayne Huizenga, founder, Blockbuster Video

“A great read–it really is all about finding, keeping, and motivating the team.” –John Malone, chairman, Liberty Media Corporation

“The key point in this book is that those of us who run companies should include who decisions near the top of the list of strategic priorities.”–John Varley, group chief executive, Barclays

“Whois the only book you need to read if you are serious about making smart hiring and promotion decisions. It is the most actionable book on middle- and upper-management hiring that I’ve read after twenty years in HR.”–Ed Evans, executive vice president and chief personnel officer, Allied Waste Industries

“I wish I had this book thirty years ago, at the beginning of my career!”–Jay Jordan, chairman and CEO, the Jordan Company

“This book will save you and your company time and money. In business, what else is there?”–Roger Marino, co-founder, EMC Corporation

“You’ ll find yourself nodding yes, saying ‘That’s right,’ and thinking, Oh, I’ve been there, all the way through this grand slam of a book. Whether you’re starting a company or running a part of a big one, the level of success you achieve is almost always a result of choosing the right people for the right jobs at the right time. It’s all about the who!”–Aaron Kennedy, founder and chairman, Noodles & Company

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001EL6RWY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books; 1st edition (August 19, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 19, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1419 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 210 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,411 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Geoff Smart

    Geoff Smart

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    Dr. Geoff Smart is the chairman & founder of ghSMART, a global leadership advisory, education, and analytics firm.

    Founded in 1995, ghSMART helps Fortune 500 CEOs & boards, entrepreneurs, and heads of state to achieve their goals through hiring, developing, and leading talented teams. Geoff and his colleagues donate hundreds of hours per year to advise leaders in Education, Public Health, and Government advising leaders who make the world a better place.

    CONTACT

    Geoff Smart, Ph.D.

    Chairman & Founder

    ghSMART & Company, Inc.

    www.geoffsmart.com

    See more on the author's page
  2. Randy Street

    Randy Street

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Randy Street is Vice Chairman of ghSMART, a leadership advisory firm whose mission is to use its expertise in human behavior to help CEOs, boards, and investors build valuable companies. He has advised leaders for over 30 years and regularly helps them to build the teams they need to execute their strategies with confidence. He specializes in CEO succession, executive selection and development, management due diligence, and optimizing leadership teams to execute strategy.

    Prior to becoming Vice Chairman, Randy served for 12 years as ghSMART’s first Managing Partner. During that time, the firm grew tenfold while setting industry standards for client and team satisfaction. Forbes rated ghSMART one of America’s Best Consulting Firms from 2017-2020, and Vault ranked ghSMART the #1 Boutique Consulting firm and #1 in overall team satisfaction, client interaction, and level of challenge in 2021.

    In collaboration with Geoff Smart, the firm’s chairman and founder, Randy co-authored Who: The A Method for Hiring (Random House, 2008), which went on to become a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best seller. Soundview Executive Book Summaries gave Who the “Best 30 Business Books Award;” Shanghai Daily named it a “Top 5 Best Book in China;” Canada’s Globe and Mail named it the “#1 Best Business and Management Book of 2009;” and The Wall Street Journal named it a top seven “Best Advice” book for leaders in 2011. Randy also co-authored the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success (Random House, 2015).

    Prior to joining ghSMART, Randy was the EVP of Sales & Marketing and EVP of Corporate Development & Strategy for EzGov, a software company that was named the fastest growing company in Atlanta during his tenure. Before that, Randy was a strategy consultant with Bain & Company where he led projects and advised senior executives of Global 1000 companies in a wide range of industries, including technology, aviation, automotive, manufacturing, defense, and more.

    Randy earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University. He and his wife live in Atlanta and have three daughters.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

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Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars great book
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024
Verified Purchase
Great book that leaves very practical applications. I would suggestion this for anyone looking to improve their teams at work.
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Nicole
5.0 out of 5 stars We use this for training
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023
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We use this book at my company to align our hiring needs. It’s a clear book that’s easy for anyone to get through
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Viriya Taecharungroj
4.0 out of 5 stars Are you the A manager?
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2009
Verified Purchase
"In business, you are who you hire."

"Who: The A Method for Hiring" by Geoff Smart and Randy Street (of ghSMART) is a book on recruting or hiring. During the global economic crisis, hiring is not less significant, it is more significant than ever. As the authors addressed that the who mistakes are pricey, most organisations are still implementing the voodoo hiring methods (the book says there are ten; pretty scary and they are true). The authors wrote the method, A method, that ghSMART (the authors' company) implemented with hundreds of clients and, as they claimed, the method has worked for them.

Contents (The A Method)

-Scorecard: A Blueprint for Success
It's a bit ironic that the authors always say "Who, not what" but the first step of the A method is the what. Anyway, the scorecard needs to have clear "Mission" rather than vague job descriptions we normally see. Specific and tangible "Outcomes" are also necessary together with critical "Competencies". The scorecard will be the blueprint of the recruiting process. We need a person that can get the job done, not an all-round athlete with a perfect resume but hangs around doing nothing.

- Source: Generating a Flow of A Players
This chapter tells us how to have more and better candidates. The best method that the book suggests is "Referrals" from friends, partners, employess, etc. The distant second and third are from recruiters and researchers.

- Select: The Four Interviews for Spotting A Players
Interview processes are "almost a random predictor" of job performance. That's the case with "traditional" interviews, author stated. They wrote a series of four interviews; screening interview, Topgrading interview, focused interview, and reference interview. This is the best part of the book.

- Sell: The Top Five Ways to Seal the Deal
The authors elaborated The Five F's of Selling; Fit, Family, Freedom, Fortune, Fun and the Five Waves of Selling or the phase that you can convince the candidate.

...

Now, I'll try to compare this book, Who, to the ideal business book or a book that is "easy to understand, distinct, practical, reliable, insightful, and provides great reading experience."

Ease of Understanding: 8/10: "Who" is easy to understand. The subject is very focused, "how to get the A player?". The subject is adequately explained and the contents are in order, Scorecard, Source, Select, and Sell.

Distinction: 6/10: I have to admit that I do not read much on recruitment but things like scorecard is not new and we all know that referral is among the best methods of getting great candidates. Nevertheless, the critical distinction of the book is how things are put in nice and simple order.

Practicality: 9/10: Forget rocket science theories on motivation and high intellectual psychology, this book cuts the waste and put you straight into action. It tells you how to do the scorecard, how to source, how to conduct the interview, and how to convince the candidate. A point is taken because the method will probably work best with the top-ranked hires rather than new graduates. If we are going to hire for the lower-rank candidates (that's the majority of the population by the way!), we have to simplify the method by ourselves.

Credibility: 7/10: The author stated that the A method works and it works with hundred of clients. From the experience and quotes by clients and success stories; the method sounds credible. However, the success, as the author claimed, of the method is very sentimental; it is measured mostly by customer satisfaction, I believe. It will be great if we have the data of the new recruits that actually outperform the scorecard, but measuring that will be tough.

Insight: 5/10: Because the book is destined to be very practical and straight to the point, you will not see highly detailed information of those topics. They are mostly "what it is, why it should be done, how it must be done, and examples or quotes" and move on to the next topic.

Reading Experience: 6/10: It is like reading a recruiting manual (a good one). There are stories all over the book but they are in glimpses and flashes. Having more stories of clients will be more fun and engaging but I believe that's not the point of "Who".

Overall: 6.8/10: If you are going to work alone for the rest of your career, skip the book (and you won't be reading this review anyway!). If you are hiring or going to hire someone in the future, this book is a must buy. Personally, I am sure that I will come back to this book many times in the future. I agree with the author when they wrote "you are who you hire". Since I do not want to be a B or C player, I'll be looking for only A and The A Mothod sounds right to me.
16 people found this helpful
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Robert T. Hess
5.0 out of 5 stars You are WHO you hire
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2012
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A companion book to Topgrading by Brad Smart, this little handbook takes the Topgrading concepts to the next level by providing a guide to using Topgrading to improve hiring for your organization. In the world of Topgrading, there are three types of employees: A, B, and C. "A" employees are in the top ten percent of skill and ability for their position. "B" employees are in the next 25 percent, and C employees make up the rest. High performing organizations are filled with A and B players and do their best to help C employees improve to the A or B level or be released from the organization. Topgrading includes sample interview guides and describes hiring methods to make sure you hire A and B players from the get go.

The book, Who, simplifies the Topgrading concepts by creating a system for hiring: Source, Scorecard, Select, and Sell. These four systems work together to ensure you hire the best employees possible. A further breakdown looks like this:

1) Source: Constantly reach out to A players in the market and create a list of people you would like to work for you. This way, when an opening occurs, you will have a strong Source to fill the spots.

2) Scorecard: Determine the key elements you are looking for in your position and design a scorecard for each key role you will be hiring. Use that scorecard to screen out who you will bring in for in-depth interviews. Careful screening prevents a host of problems in hiring.

3) Select: Determine who is best for the position through an in-depth Topgrade interview. The best predictor of future success is past success--don't cut corners in reference checking.

4) Sell: "A" players have options. Work hard to sell your organization to them.

The screening interview process was a highlight of this book. Who is a must have resource for every HR director and leader who wants to attract and secure top talent for their organization.
17 people found this helpful
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Guido M
5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental para quienes tienen la responsabilidad de contratar personal
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
Lectura obligada para quienes llevan adelante procesos de selección de personal. Un antes y después para entender cómo deben hacerse desde los job postings hasta la entrevistas
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Line
3.0 out of 5 stars Good content, dirt page
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2023
Verified Purchase
I am reading the book and the content is good but the paperback came a little bit dirty inside, dont know why.
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Line
3.0 out of 5 stars Good content, dirt page
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2023
I am reading the book and the content is good but the paperback came a little bit dirty inside, dont know why.
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JT
5.0 out of 5 stars great book. implementing right away
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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Amazing book if you are in charge of leading and hiring. Gives enough detail to start implanting immediately on your team.
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Conor
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Arguments and Hiring Approach
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024
Verified Purchase
There are several great analogies and arguments in the book mostly related to hiring and employee goals. There is limited retention info that is actionable but overall you can learn some things from this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Isabel López
5.0 out of 5 stars Da mucha claridad
Reviewed in Mexico on March 7, 2024
Verified Purchase
Resuelve muchas dudas que te vas haciendo a lo largo de tu carrera ¿Mi equipo es bueno? ¿Cómo podría ser mejor? ¿Debería cambiar de equipo? Y cuando busque a alguien más ¿Que debería buscar? Y cuando lo encuentre ¿Cómo debo de entrevistar?

Una guía muy sencilla, libro muy práctico, ejemplos empresariales.
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Bohemazonian
5.0 out of 5 stars #1 all time playbook for hiring — VC and Entrepreneur recommendation
Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2021
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As a tenured venture investor and entrepreneur, this is the book I recommend to the CEO of every company I invest in as the playbook for hiring thoughtfully
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Anup
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Reviewed in India on March 3, 2024
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Amazing book higly recommended for interviers.
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d'arpa
5.0 out of 5 stars une methode de recrutement top
Reviewed in France on February 18, 2024
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une excellente methode pour recruter simple efficace pratique. pour l avoir mise en ouvre tres efficace
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Stefan Conic, the GTM studio
5.0 out of 5 stars Tactical process for hiring A Players
Reviewed in Germany on August 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
An incredible resource that teaches you how to hire A players, whatever roles you're hiring, regardless of whether you're an agency or an internal recruiter.
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