Bradford Smart

Topgrading

1. IDEA 1

   Fill roles with A players

   Smart defines an A player as someone in the top ten percent of talent available for a role at the pay offered. He argues that companies full of A players consistently outperform those that settle for less.

2. IDEA 2

   Mis-hires cost far more than salary

   Smart argues that hiring the wrong person costs much more than their pay, through lost opportunities, poor decisions and damage to teams. Avoiding mis-hires, he says, should be a top priority for every manager.

3. IDEA 3

   Collect the full career history

   Smart recommends asking candidates to fill out a detailed career history form, covering every job, salary and reason for leaving. This information makes patterns in a person's past much easier to see.

All 8 ideas from Topgrading →