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

~ Ph.D., Bradford D. Smart (Author) "How dramatically can topgrading improve talent?..." (more)
Key Phrases: moral approach, competency questions, virtual technology, Topgrading Interview, United States, Career History Form (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

Topgrading is the definitive manual for becoming an A player and for recognizing those traits in others. -- Larry Bossidy, coauthor of Execution

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; Revised edition (April 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591840813
• ISBN-13: 978-1591840817
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,956 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "OK", with reservations, May 16, 2006

By	jds100 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People, Revised and Updated Edition (Hardcover)

"Topgrading" does have some insights, that are of some value, but keep in mind that this book is also a marketing tool for the author's services. The ideas here are not necessarily new; they're certainly not earth-shattering. The 'tool' for interviewing is most unlikely to be used by people in the real world, in HR or in the position of making a hiring decision. It is unweildy, excessivly long, and absolutely dependent on the ability of the interviewer to accurately evaluate the responses of the candidates. It is absurd to presume or assume that everyone -maybe even anyone- who reads this book will come away with that talent. I certainly would not want to make my company's growth and/or survival dependent on someone's consistent ability to accurately evaluate qualifications -and "quality"- over the course of using this 2-1/2 hour-long interview tool.

I also question whether or not the best candidates wouldn't get up and leave in disgust, or run as fast as they can from a company that would use this kind of interviewing tool.

The tone of the interviewing methodology seems, to me, to be adversarial and condescending, which will not generate the most accurate eveidence of talent of fit with a given organization. This is tedious, and excessive. It would not take a genius to BS his or her way into giving impressive answers. I question whether or not candidates, the best candidates especially, would not be offended at being asked these questions. I can imagine that candidates who are desperate would be happy to sit through this 'therapy session', but real professionals would more likely determine that a company using this method would not be a good fit. If you believe in making your candidates run a gauntlet of pain and fire, then be honest: set that up. The tool that is touted in "Topgrading" is at least equally as difficult for the interviewer as for the interviewee, especially given that the interviewer is expected to conduct multiple such interviews, while a candidate will endure only one interview. Can you really rely on the accuracy of the last interview of the day as compared to the first or second?

Despite claims for gaining special insight through use of this process, there is nothing special or unique here, other than the mass of what amounts to typical HR questions piled into one interview. The real 'secret' and value is in the ability, again, of the interviewer to assign purely subjective qualitative judgements to the answers. That's scary. It's not any more reliable, nor any more safe than any other systematic hiring approach that takes a little care and a little common sense.

I think most people who find themselves initially impressed are those who have not put much thought into hiring (the interview process) before now, and there is, therefore, a level of excitement at "discovering" a systematic approach. Anyone looking for a magic bullet for interviewing and hiring will think this is it for awhile, but they probably would have thought the same thing if they'd picked up 'that other book' instead.

The general ideas can best be adapted to specific needs, and can best be reduced in size. Add this to your library (or don't), and find the seeds of value in the book (or just bypass it altogether), but don't believe that this is the one true way. It isn't.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important Work for those who are growing a business!, April 3, 2000

By	Alan James (Ft. Collins, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People (Hardcover)

This book is an important work for me. As an entrepeneur, the book contained the information that I needed. A major part of the achievement puzzle.

For those who read this review, the three pieces of knowledge I deemed most valueable are as follows:

1. Hire the top 10% of the people out there who are willilng to work for the wage offered. This book helps pinpoint characteristics of people most suitable thru a long interview section in the back of the book. I think its pretty darn accurate.

2. A players. B players. C & D players. Some B players cannot be converted to A. Some B are only B. C players cannot be converted to a B player. D players are D players pernamently. Certain personal characteristics of thinking indicate if you are A, B,C or D. Great Stuff! After reading this book I fell out of love with all the people around me, and proceeded to top grade my company. I strongly disagree with who ever the perplexed indivdual was who wrote in the customer review that this book - not to waste your money. Well, this book helped me waste my money all the way to the bank!

3. In general you should employ fewer people, and pay them more, to do more.

Read the interview guide. I never considered spending 5 hours with a person to really dig deep and elicit characteristics with leading questions. I always thought an hour interview would be a long one. The book can be a yawner at parts but it gets going after the first few chapters. Great Book! The book has value.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware, July 11, 2001

By	Greg (Dearborn, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People (Hardcover)

Be very careful using some of the information in this book or you risk creating an HR nightmare for your company. Ford Motor Company is in the process of defending itself against law suites brought on by employees who have been exposed to the "A, B, and C, Player," environment. The Top Grading system is viewed by many as arbitrary, unfair, and discriminatory. Even the most vocal practitioners of this system, General Electric, will admit the process can destroy moral.