Who Quotes

“Do not hire anybody who has been pushed out of 20 percent or more of their jobs.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“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.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“These who mistakes are pricey. According to studies we’ve done with our clients, the average hiring mistake costs fifteen times an employee’s base salary in hard costs and productivity loss.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Joe Mansueto, founder of Morningstar, put it, “Your success as a manager is simply the result of how good you are at hiring the people around you.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“REFERRALS FROM EMPLOYEES As valuable as outside referrals are, in-house ones often provide better-targeted sourcing. After all, who knows your needs and culture better than the people who are already working for you? Yet while this is far from a blinding insight, we’re constantly amazed at how few managers actually take the time to ask their employees for help. Selim Bassoul, the”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“new is “What do you do?” Next time you answer that question (probably in the next week or two if our experience is any guide), follow up with “Say, now that I have told you what I do, who are the most talented people you know who could be a good fit for my company?” Do that, and you will turn a common social question into a sourcing opportunity. After years of asking for referrals and personally recruiting”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“to ask for referrals from your personal and professional networks. This approach may feel scary and timeconsuming, but it is the single most effective way to find potential A Players. This”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“The mission defines the essence of the job to a high degree of specificity. Outcomes describe what must be accomplished. Competencies define how you expect a new hire to operate in the fulfillment of the job and the achievement of the outcomes.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“I think success comes from having the right person in the right job at the right time with the right skill set for the business problem that exists.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“The first failure point of hiring is not being crystal clear about what you really want the person you hire to accomplish.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“during interviews, between offer and acceptance, between acceptance and the first day, and during the first one hundred days on the job. 3. Be persistent. Don’t give up until you have your A Player on board.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“HOW TO SELL A PLAYERS 1. Identify which of the five F’s really matter to the candidate: fit, family, freedom, fortune, or fun. 2. Create and execute a plan to address the relevant F’s during the five waves of selling: during sourcing,”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Who were the people you worked with?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“What accomplishments are you most proud of?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“What are your career goals?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“What are you really good at professionally?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“What do you mean?” you ask. “I mean I am conflict-avoidant.” “How so?” you ask again. “Well, I guess I avoid situations where I know people are going to get upset.” “What is an example of that?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“1. REFERRALS FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL NETWORKS. Create a list of the ten most talented people you know and commit to speaking with at least one of them per week for the next ten weeks. At the end of each conversation, ask, “Who are the most talented people you know?” Continue to build your list and continue to talk with at least one person per week. 2. REFERRALS FROM YOUR EMPLOYEES. Add sourcing as an outcome on every scorecard for your team. For example, “Source five A Players per year who pass our phone screen.” Encourage your employees to ask people in their networks, “Who are the most talented people you know whom we should hire?” Offer a referral bonus. 3. DEPUTIZING FRIENDS OF THE FIRM. Consider offering a referral bounty to select friends of the firm. It could be as inexpensive as a gift certificate or as expensive as a significant cash bonus.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“great at what you do. I am always on the lookout for talented people and would love the chance to get to know you. Even if you are perfectly content in your current job, I’d love to introduce myself and hear about your career interests.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“1. MISSION. Develop a short statement of one to five sentences that describes why a role exists. For example, “The mission for the customer service representative is to help customers resolve their questions and complaints with the highest level of courtesy possible.” 2. OUTCOMES. Develop three to eight specific, objective outcomes that a person must accomplish to achieve an A performance. For example, “Improve customer satisfaction on a ten-point scale from 7.1 to 9.0 by December 31.” 3. COMPETENCIES. Identify as many role-based competencies as you think appropriate to describe the behaviors someone must demonstrate to achieve the outcomes. Next, identify five to eight competencies that describe your culture and place those on every scorecard. For example, “Competencies include efficiency, honesty, high standards, and a customer service mentality.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“The beauty of scorecards is that they are not just documents used in hiring. They become the blueprint that links the theory of strategy to the reality of execution. Scorecards translate your business plans into role-by-role outcomes and create alignment among your team, and they unify your culture and ensure people understand your expectations.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Strategic thinking/visioning. Able to see and communicate the big picture in an inspiring way. Determines opportunities and threats through comprehensive analysis of current and future trends. • Creativity/innovation. Generates new and innovative approaches to problems. • Enthusiasm. Exhibits passion and excitement over work. Has a can-do attitude. • Work ethic. Possesses a strong willingness to work hard and sometimes long hours to get the job done. Has a track record of working hard. • High standards. Expects personal performance and team performance to be nothing short of the best. • Listening skills. Lets others speak and seeks to understand their viewpoints. • Openness to criticism and ideas. Often solicits feedback and reacts calmly to criticism or negative feedback. • Communication. Speaks and writes clearly and articulately without being overly verbose or talkative. Maintains this standard in all forms of written communication, including e-mail.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“These are in unprioritized order: • Ability to hire A Players (for managers). Sources, selects, and sells A Players to join a company. • Ability to develop people (for managers). Coaches people in their current roles to improve performance, and prepares them for future roles. • Flexibility/adaptability. Adjusts quickly to changing priorities and conditions. Copes effectively with complexity and change. • Calm under pressure. Maintains stable performance when under heavy pressure or stress.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“These are in unprioritized order: • Ability to hire A Players (for managers). Sources, selects, and sells A Players to join a company. • Ability to develop people (for managers). Coaches people in their current roles to improve performance, and prepares them for future roles. • Flexibility/adaptability. Adjusts quickly to changing priorities and conditions. Copes effectively with complexity and change. • Calm under pressure. Maintains stable”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Not all jobs allow you to quantify the outcome so easily. In these cases, seek to make the outcomes as objective and observable as possible. For example, an outcome for a marketing manager might read, “Create and implement a new marketing campaign within 180 days of start date.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Scorecards are your blueprint for success. They take the theoretical definition of an A Player and put it in practical terms for the position you need to fill. 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. You wouldn’t think of having someone build you a house without an architect’s blueprint in hand. Don’t think of hiring people for your team without this blueprint by your side. What becomes all too clear in many of our initial meetings with clients is that they don’t bother to define what they want before they go hire somebody. We recently worked with a global financial services institution interested in hiring a VP of strategic planning.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“The scorecard is composed of three parts: the job’s mission, outcomes, and competencies. Together, these three pieces describe A performance in the role—what a person must accomplish, and how. They provide a clear linkage between the people you hire and your strategy. MISSION: THE ESSENCE OF THE JOB The mission is an executive summary of the job’s core purpose. It boils the job down to its essence so everybody understands why you need to hire someone into the slot. Take a look at the sample scorecard on the next page. The mission for the VP of sales clearly captures why the role exists: to grow revenue through direct contacts with industrial customers.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“While typical job descriptions break down because they focus on activities, or a list of things a person will be doing (calling on customers, selling), scorecards succeed because they focus on outcomes, or what a person must get done (grow revenue from $25 million to $50 million by the end of year three). Do you see the distinction?”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“Managing is easy, except for the people part!”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring

“are your career goals? This first question is powerful because it allows you to hear about a candidate’s goals and passions before you taint the discussion with your own comments. You give the candidate the first word, rather than telling the person about the company so he or she can parrot back what you just said. Ideally, a candidate will share career goals that match your company’s needs. If he or she lacks goals or sounds like an echo of your own Web site, screen the person out. You are done with the call. Talented people know what they want to do and are not afraid to tell you about it.”
― Geoff Smart, Who: The A Method for Hiring