“No management style can undo the damage of a poor hiring decision.”

Red Scott

In the quick read, Hire Smart or Manage Tough, Red Scott, the former Vice-Chairman of Pier One Imports and a grand-nephew of legendary tough guy, General George S. Patton, dispenses advice on why and how to hire top talent.

Why You Need to Hire the Top Talent

• You can either hire smart or manage tough; you cannot do both
  
• It is much easier to hire smart than to manage tough
  
  • Hire smart – do it once
    
  • Manage tough – do it every day
    
• Focus on “game breaker” as different from “journeyman” employees
  
  • Depends on position
    
  • In his 6,000 employee company, there were 18 – 20 game-breaking positions
    
  • For game breakers, do not worry about salary; focus on how much they can make for you
    
    • You never pay the right guy enough
      
    • You always pay the wrong guy too much
      
      • And you do irreparable damage to the person mis-hired
        

Characteristics of Top Talent

• Personal characteristics of a winner
  
  • He or she must give you more than they get
    
  • History of being lucky
    
  • Accepts responsibility for their personal results
    
  • Motivated by the act of achieving
    
    • Has to win at everything
      
  • Need to see closure (finish job)
    
  • Decisive when facts are in
    
  • Creative intelligence
    
  • Can see structure
    
  • Can organize data
    
• Caution
  
  • Do not confuse bright people with judgment
    
• Factors that determine future job performance
  
  • Formal education
    
  • Previous experience
    
  • Mental ability
    
  • Personality fit
    
  • Motivation and enthusiasm (“I will” instead of IQ)
    
  • Mentally tough
    
  • Ability to communicate (No leaders without followers)
    

How to Hire Top Talent

• Formalize hiring process
  
  • Take six months to hire the right person
    
  • Put in writing how you are going to find the “game breaker”
    
• Eight steps for hiring a “game breaker”
  
  • Use headhunter
    
    • Someone that has done that type of search recently and is only doing a few searches at a time
      
  • Reach for the moon when you are starting your search
    
  • Interview targeted group of candidates; each for 3 – 4 hours one on one
    
    • Listen (they should talk 80% of the time)
      
      • Verbs instead of noun
        
      • Where they are going instead of where they have been
        
      • Team instead of I
        
      • Realize that you are the enemy in terms of being objective because of your inherent subjective biases
        
    • Have a list of questions written out ahead of time; types of questions include:
      
      • What would your former employer / subordinate say about you?
        
      • What would they say you should do differently?
        
      • What are your qualities of a manager?
        
      • How do you recognize incompetence?
        
      • How do you recognize excellence?
        
      • How did you hire your last person?
        
      • What are your priorities?
        
  • Do professional test; testers and psychologists
    
    • Create a model / template to see how successful people in your company do on the test
      
    • Testing tells how smart they are, how well they use intellect, personal style, motivation, inner strength, management style
      
  • Have a third party (someone on the outside that you know and trust) interview the candidates
    
  • Do a second interview; characterize them and assign a value on different crucial characteristics
    
    • Get a person in a social event
      
  • Reference checking (do face to face if possible)
    
  • Need to make them an attractive but fair deal to get them turned on to come and join the company
    

Characteristics of That Top Talent You Just Hired (Reprise)

• Let’s find out v. Nobody knows
  
• After mistake, I was wrong v. It was not my fault
  
• Credit good luck for winning v. Blaming bad luck for losing
  
• Winner works harder and still has more time v. Too busy to do what is necessary
  
• Commitment v. Promises
  
• I am good but not as good as I ought to be v. I am not as bad as a lot of other people