Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People, Revised and Updated Edition - Hardcover

Smart Ph.D., Bradford D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591840813 ISBN 13: 9781591840817

Publisher: Portfolio, 2005

Synopsis

Great companies don’t just depend on strategies—they depend on people. The more great people on your team, the more successful your organization will be. But that’s easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment decisions result in a mishire: The wrong person winds up in the wrong job. But companies that have followed Bradford Smart’s advice in Topgrading have boosted their successful hiring rate to 90 percent or better, giving them an unbeatable competitive advantage.

Now Smart has fully revised his 1999 management classic to reintroduce the topgrading concept, which works for companies large and small in any industry. The author spells out his practical approach to finding and managing A-level talent—as well as coaching B players to turn them into A players. He provides intriguing case studies drawn from more than four thousand in-depth interviews.

As Smart writes in his introduction, “All organizations, all businesses live or die mostly on their talent, and any manager who fails to topgrade is nuts, or a C player. . . . Those who, way deep down, would sooner see an organization die than nudge an incompetent person out of a job should not read this book... Topgrading is for A players and all those aspiring to be A players.”

On the web: http://www.topgrading.com/

About this title

Review:

The key to building a superior company, an increasing number of observers now agree, is the ongoing ability to recruit and retain superior personnel. In Topgrading, industrial psychologist and global consultant Bradford Smart expands upon this idea by examining in great detail exactly how today's premier organizations have assembled such top-level employees, and then showing precisely how others can do it, too. "Simply put, topgrading is the practice of packing the team with A players and clearing out the C players," Smart writes. "'A players' is defined as the top 10 percent of talent available at all salary levels--best of class. With this radical definition, you are not a topgrader until your team consists of all A players. Period." Essentially a best-practices manual for developing this outstanding personnel pool, the book is based on more than 4,000 interviews and case studies conducted by Smart at major corporations like General Electric as well as fast-growing high-tech companies and small family-owned firms. He further bolsters its effectiveness by including his extensive "Chronological In-Depth Structured Interview Guide," along with other assessment tools and hands-on strategies for assembling an ideal work team. --Howard Rothman

From the Back Cover:

"Topgrading is a proven strategy for hiring 'A' Players, building 'dream teams.' Companies and individuals who topgrade gain a talent advantage -- they consistently outperform the competition and reap the rewards of excellence." Robert H. Bohannon, Chairman, President and CEO Viad Corp.

"Topgrading is making us a stronger company everyday. Its tenets align perfectly with Gateway's unending commitment to improving our ability to serve our customers' needs." Ted Waitt, Chairman of the Board, Gateway

"I've had firsthand experience with Brad, and his approach to finding talent and fitting the talent to the job's requirements works. Brad's book demystifies the concept of Topgrading, and as he draws from thousands of real experiences, he provides a road map for building successful management teams. I wish he'd put this on paper a long time ago." Joe Lawler, President, Merchandise Media, RR Donnelley & Sons Co.

"Topgrading will become a continuous process of raising the bar in the identification of top and bottom players to enhance overall organizational vitality." Bill Conaty, Sr. V.P. Human Resources, General Electric Company

"Brad's pursuit of excellence in selection and development is critical in a global business where individual success is significantly leveraged in a team of "A Players." Lewis N. Sears, V.P. Organization Effectiveness, Citibank

About this edition

• Publisher: Portfolio
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1591840813
• ISBN 13: 9781591840817
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 592