Sure, there are some experts out there who will tell you that you can always hire A-Players, but I'm not one of them.  Considering 54% of all hires are mis-hires (according to a 2000 Fortune Study) we clearly have a problem in America.

The content for discussion today comes from Global Learning Resources CEO Kevin Wheeler.  He suggests that great performers tend to emerge over time, rather than appear fully formed at the interview. According to Kevin, there are four ways to improve your hiring and development systems.

1. Don’t look for “A” players, because you don’t really know who they are. Those that you think are the best, the brightest, or the smartest may not be. The problem in looking for the best is that you are always using criteria that are suspect. The fatal flaw inherent in all competency systems is change. What has been successful or what is successful in a particular place may not be in another.

2. Provide development opportunities broadly for everyone and reward and promote those who take advantage of the opportunities. If we believe that talent often emerges where we least expect it, we cannot afford to limit development opportunities only to certain levels or types of employees.

3. Have recruiters aggressively monitor and source internally. Most of the very best talent comes from within and from below. We are all enamored with the outside “guru,” and frequently pass on the person right in front of us who is equipped with the skills, the cultural understanding, and the motivation to excel.

4. Look at selecting people for broad-based competencies. We should be looking to hire people with motivation to learn, with team experience and success, with cultural compatibility, and with a basic technical skill set that can be developed by experiential opportunities and good mentoring. We need to move away from rigorous narrow competency definitions and reliance on experience as an indicator of performance.

Do I disagree with anything that Kevin has shared up to this point?

Nope.

If you've read this blog for awhile and have implemented even 10% of what you've learned, you SHOULD have an issue with this last statement of his: “A” players are hard to define and impossible to recruit consistently.