3 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: Topgrading Saves Lives
Cass Wheeler, retired CEO of American Heart Association has, sadly, passed away. He completely transformed a struggling organization with 56 offices into a centralized force ...
9 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: Hiring Mistakes: The Silent Killer of Business Strategy
I've spent five decades helping companies avoid costly hiring mistakes and let me tell you – bad hires are like termites. You don't always see the damage right away, but ...
5 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: Inside the AI Hiring Revolution
Topgrading’s VP, Andy Williams, recently hosted a thought leadership session titled Inside the AI Hiring Revolution - and trust me, if you care about hiring the right people, ...
8 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: The Agony of a Hiring Mistake, and The Solutions
Study after study (Google, Harvard Business Review, Gallup, LinkedIn) show hiring mistakes are a top concern of CEOs, HR leaders, and hiring managers. Leaders everywhere ...
6 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: How to Prevent Job Seekers From Conning You
One of the biggest drains on individual career success, and company success, is the mis-hiring of low performers. It’s a quiet epidemic undermining careers, company ...
5 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: Economic Volatility Doesn’t Kill Companies – Hiring Mistakes Do
When the economy wobbles, most leaders get nervous and pause hiring. If the “pause” is as serious as a pandemic, millions of companies are forced to let people go.
4 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: HireVue vs. Topgrading to Limit Cheating: Topgrading Wins
The attached (click here), rather long article by HireVue goes into great depth on how ChatGPT is used by cheaters … and how HireVue interview questions can identify and ...
5 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: Managerial Jobs Are Being Slashed - Topgrading Can Save You
Wall Street Journal's recent article, Where Have All The Managers Gone?, thoroughly documents the decline of managerial jobs. Huge and small companies alike are boosting ...
5 min read
From the Desk of Brad Smart: #1 Question to Ask Job Seekers
Experienced interviewer, Elizabeth Gore, CEO of Hello Alice, wrote a blog (click here) advising interviewers, when interviewing job seekers, to ask: “What do you think we’re ...
3 min read
When Hiring Has Slowed, It’s More Important to Use Best Practices
When you’re suffering through the agony of downsizing, the last thing you might be thinking of is hiring methods. But please, think again. You will be hiring a few people ...
3 min read
In Down Markets, Hiring High Performers is More Important Than Ever
As they say here in Arizona, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” In four decades we’ve seen many downturns. In all the down markets we have sat with CEOs and Human Resources as they ...3 min read
LinkedIn’s Interviewing Advice is Absurd
LinkedIn recently came out with a guide entitled The Interviewing Questions You Should Be Asking. The introduction states: Interviewing isn’t easy, but the process isn’t ...
5 min read
Interviewing Myth #10: One or 1 1/2 Hour Interviews Are Enough
Topgraders, you know this, but for everyone else… today (any day) probably millions of hiring interviews will take place and most will last one hour and almost all the rest ...4 min read
Interviewing Myth #9: Candidates Will Change
All hiring managers have been deceived at some point by candidates assuring them that they have overcome weaker points, failures and mistakes of the past, saying, “I’ve ...3 min read
Harvard Business Review is Wrong About Hiring
A recent HBR article, Experience Does Not Predict a New Hire’s Success , is misleading at best and dead wrong at worst. It’s based on flawed research from Florida State ...3 min read
The High Costs of Mis-Hires Are Higher Than You Think
Do you know how much it costs you when you hire the wrong person? We have researched this topic for decades, and during all those years we’ve found that executives grossly ...3 min read
“Cheetah” CEOs Outperform “Lamb” CEOs
Topgrading research disputes what has become the mantra in leadership books and even Harvard Business Review, and that is that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the most ...
2 min read
How to Prevent Promoting People Who Then Fail
Almost every leader I've interviewed has promoted people who were high performers in their current job, but failed when promoted. Years ago a popular business book was The ...
2 min read
Job Descriptions Suck - They Cause Your Mis-Hires
Job Descriptions are often so vague that they lead to preventable mis-hires; Job Scorecards, with measurable accountabilities for everything including competencies, prevent ...
1 min read
One Topgrading Snapshot Saves $20 Million
We at Topgrading Inc., think the Topgrading Snapshot is the best candidate screening method on the planet – a zillion times easier and better than screening candidates from ...
1 min read
Do You Have 75% Good Hires...Or 25%?
There is frequent confusion when Topgraders talk with non-Topgraders: Topgrader: “Research shows that 75% of people hired (even in leading companies) are mis-hires.” ...2 min read
Fun Trivia: Topgrading Is As Good as Antiseptics!
Recently, I visited the British Museum in London and there is a model of Dr. Joseph Lister’s laboratory. Who? I immediately felt a certain kinship with him, because his ...3 min read
When a Topgrader Hires "Just a Warm Body"
SUMMARY: There never is a time when it’s a good idea to hire “just a warm body.” Never. To repeat: NEVER! BACKGROUND: Over the decades, Topgrading Professionals have heard ...3 min read
How NOT to Topgrade a Country (yes, Country!)
This article is just for fun. It is the story my client told of his attempt to Topgrade his home country … by orchestrating a coup. Seriously! And over the years I’ve talked ...3 min read
When to Hire and NOT Hire People With Passion
Most companies include Passion among their competencies, but some are not clear by what they mean and end up hiring people who are passionate about something that will not ...7 min read
Topgrading Costs and ROI
We at Topgrading, Inc. might be a bit biased, but we believe there has never been a human resources or talent method that has so consistently demonstrated anything close to ...
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