“Have you ever hired someone whom you should never have hired in the first place?” If you answered “yes,” then you’re not alone.
Few hiring managers have ever been taught how to hire successfully. That’s unfortunate! Left to chance, hiring is a decision that could have a major impact on a company’s most important asset—its employees.
There is nothing magic about making a good hiring decision. It’s a skill that anyone can learn and apply. The Seven Rules for Hiring Extraordinary Talent will serve as a guide for anyone involved in the hiring process. Ignoring these rules can be expensive.
For example, an experienced salesperson is hired but the person lasts only three months. What are some of the costs of losing that person?
1. Lost potential revenue from sales that did not materialize.
2. More lost revenue from sales while you seek a replacement.
3. Customer reaction to lack of continuity of sales representation.
4. Time recruiting and interviewing new candidates.
5. Replacement expenses, such as recruitment fees, travel, etc.
6. Training time for the new sales person.
During the past thirty years working with companies to find, select and hire key employees, I have observed and noted the most common mistakes that have prevented managers from getting the best hiring results. Adhering to the Seven Rules ensures that these mistakes will not be made!
None of the rules are profound. All of them can be implemented rather easily, and, in doing so, will result in more objective and predictable hiring decisions. You will hire people who get the results you want.
Some readers may find the ideas presented in this book provide a logical framework to what they are already doing. Others will find new ideas to add to their hiring skills. Hopefully most readers will be stimulated and encouraged to think outside of their recruitment/hiring system box and try a new approach to hire the best people.
This is a business book told in a story format. The story is light-hearted; the subject matter is serious.
Chapters one through seven treat each of the rules separately. Chapter eight summarizes the rules and provides an action plan to implement them.
The story relates a typical Thursday coffee get together between old friends. The characters are composites of personal friends and their contributions are based on actual employment situations.
The characters:
Pat (The Pupil and Narrator of the Story), is in his mid-thirties and is President and one of the founders of a company that is beginning to grow and prosper. Company sales are about $10 million.
Roger (The Retiree), is in his mid-fifties and is retired. He founded a company that grew to over $250 million and sold it a few years ago.
Charles (The Consultant), is in his early sixties and is a management consultant who specializes in executive selection. He has known Roger for over twenty years and has helped him build his management team.
Harry (The Heckler), is in his late-thirties and is Vice President of Sales for a small, stable $8 million company.
Join these friends as they discover how to hire extraordinary talent.