Topgrading, 3rd Edition: The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance by Bradford D. Smart

It is no surprise that recruiting and hiring the right employees for your business is essential for achieving great results and setting the foundation for success. The process of recruiting and hiring is an arduous and time consuming process, and many organizations find themselves in a situation of hiring wrong talent, leading to misappropriation of resources, tenure issues and workplace strife. Bradford D. Smart in his book Topgrading, 3rd Edition: The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance provides us with an efficient and effective method to recruit and hire employees that will positively impact organization’s performance.

The book is divided into five parts and provides an all-encompassing view of how to build the right team of employees and promote them within an organization. The first part starts by introducing the concept of topgrading, which is defined as a process of systematically replacing lower performers and hiring great talent to better the team's overall performance. Smart points out that most organizations overvalue loyalty and tenure and undervalue performance resulting in poor team performance. To correct this problem it is essential to evaluate employees and continuously upgrade talent by hiring and promoting better performers.

The book then moves on to discuss the 6 Building Blocks of Topgrading in Part 2, which are the steps to take while putting together an effective team. Smart explains the importance of correctly performing every block and provides step-by-step guidelines to perform each block correctly to ensure that only the most proficient and desired candidate is selected for the job. Furthermore, the author points out the importance of setting clear expectations and goals for the candidate, this will help to successfully manage the performance, success, and growth of the employee.

Part 3 tackles the issue of interviewing candidates and provides insight on how to effectively perform interviews in order to assess the candidate’s candidacy and make an informed decision. Smart provides a comprehensive list of questions to be asked to the candidate and methods to use for assessing the answers for each one. He states that interviews should be transparent, concrete, fact-based and comprehensive enough to get a good understanding of the candidate’s suitability for the job, skills, and competencies.

Part 4 focuses on development and advancement within an organization. It provides insights into how to help the newly hired employees reach their peak performance and stay engaged and motivated while dealing with existing team members. Smart then dives deeper into the methods and strategies of using a performance-based system to promote and develop employees within an organization.

The book then ends by providing the readers with a comprehensive roadmap to follow in order to implement topgrading completely within an organization. It provides practical information regarding how to bring in the necessary changes in the organization’s culture, strategies to use for evaluation and development of employees, and change management tips.

Overall, Topgrading, 3rd Edition: The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance provides a comprehensive overall guide on how to build and maintain great teams of employees. Bradford D. Smart has provided readers with an efficient, fact-based method which allows for informed and analytical decision-making while recruiting. The book can be effectively used by organizations to build the necessary foundations leading to success and positive team performance.