Part I : Book Summary

Top Grading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best

People by Bradford Smart provides profound material on how to do exactly what the title says:

“Win”. (Smart, 1999, p. cover). Doctor Brad Smart explores and enlightens various aspects of

hiring, firing, and retaining that are insightful and helpful for employers, employees, and those

who are looking to get hired. Sixteen years later and his ideas, concepts, and methods are

helping millions of people get the results that they desire in the professional realm.

Compensation was a major theme throughout Top Grading. Dr. Smart calls on Human

Resources directors, early on in the book, to determine an accurate salary range, per position,

based on the talent that is needed to fill the position and the current market values (Smart, 1999,

p. 19). Companies will need to pay what it takes to get whom they need in order to compete and

win. He states that, “Top graders must determine the level of talent needed and pay hat the

market demands, even if internal equity might be jarred.” (Smart, 1999, p. 19). This theory goes

along with economic values that benefit the company. This idea also goes against some more

common theories of similar in-house salaries; however, Brad preaches ideas of “getting what you

pay for”. (Smart, 1999, p. 23). Another compensation topic that was touched on my Smart was

the cost of “mis-hires” and the costly affect they have on an organization (Smart, 1999, p. 46).

Smart supports his opinions by stating that, “studies have placed mis-hiring costs at three times

their annual their annual compensation.” (Smart, 1999, p. 45). These statistics prove the

importance of hiring the right people for the jobs at hand.

One of the main ways that Dr. Smart advises that companies avoid costly problems is to

avoid hiring the wrong people in the first place. Improving interviews is one way that Smart

suggests that companies get on the right track to getting the right people in their open positions.

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The method the Dr. Smart strongly supports and promotes is the CIDS method (Smart, 1999, p.

80). The CIDS method allows the employer to tailor the interview to the position so that the

interviewer is asking the right questions; which in turn leads to the right hires instead of mis-

hires (Smart, 1999, p. 78). Smart also approaches this from the future employee’s perspective

and urges them to really evaluate if the position is going to be a good fit for their skills,

personality type, and overall environment. Smart calls people to be “fair and honest” with

themselves, which will benefit the individual and the employer (Smart, 1999, p. 80). Ultimately,

mis-hires are very expensive and hurts the overall work environment and should be avoided at all

cost.

Dr. Smart teaches that Top Grading does not mean that you have to pay more than other

corporations for employers; it means that you just have to “pay smart” (Smart, 1999, p. 21). This

means that companies that are trying to implement Top Grading do not have to necessarily

extend their budget; however, it does mean that they might need to do some re-allocation of

money within the system. Smart gives all employees a grading of A, B, or C and instills that C-

players are the hardest to deal with because sometimes it results in their termination. Smart

realizes the necessity of this action in order to re-allocate money where it is best serving a

purpose and in order to change the company culture of success (Smart, 1999, p. 22). To put his

opinions very simply, Smart states, “C-Players suck the creative energy out of your

organization.” (Smart, 1999, p. 23). One idea that Smart suggests in order to retain some C-

players is the idea of “revamping”. This idea provides the methods of assessment, development,

modeling, and coaching in order to be able to retain some lower level players in a corporation

(Smart, 1999, p. 25). This method is great for a lot of employees who just haven’t reached their

full potential; however, some C- players are less hopeful. Dr. Smart warns that some C- players

will just not be good enough for the new atmosphere and expectations of the company and will

need to be let go. Opposed to some peoples’ views on firing, Smart exclaims, “it is immoral

NOT to remove C- players”. (Smart, 1999, p. 73). Ultimately when revamping and replacement

within do not work, firing may be the only option if an organization is serious about Top

Grading.

Smart also talks heavily on the other end of the spectrum: A- players. As important as it

is to focus and notice the lower graded players in an organization, it is twice as important to

focus and retain higher graded employees. These A-players are crucial for a company because

they support the company culture and they provide great promise for promotions. Smart touches

on retaining A- players and promotes using incentives to retain these high players that are crucial

for an organization (Smart, 1999, p. 29.) Smart also teaches to use “competitive pay and stock

options,” in order to get the best and to retain the best (Smart, 1999, p. 29). Dr. Brad Smart

provides insightful and thought provoking material that is not only proved to be successful for

companies, but also helps individuals, one-by-one.

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Part II: Application of Concepts

One topic that Top Grading really highlights on is compensation. Smart relays that

compensation is important in order to get the A-players that the organization needs. One way

that Smart advises to do this is by using competitive pay (Smart, 1999, p. 29). One way that this

applies to in class application is through our research on CNN Money and the Cost of Living

Calculator. (CNN, 2015) The Cost of Living Calculator is not only useful to searching

applicants, but it also gives employers to ability to see what is a competitive compensation in one

area compared to another so that they can attract the best employees for their organization, no

matter the location. In this case, Smart’s ideas and propositions align directly with learned

material in Employee Recruitment and Selection.

Another topic that has been thoroughly discussed in Employee Recruitment is Writing

Job Descriptions. Writing Job Descriptions is necessary in order to avoid legal mishaps, attract

the “A-Players,” and to avoid “mis-hires”. (Smart, 1999) (Hughes, 2015). Doctor Smart and

Professor Hughes have supporting opinions when it comes to this topic. Both professionals have

taught the importance of the Human Resources positions because it is up to HR to bring in the

right people for the job. Writing an effective job description is a crucial step in the process

(Hughes, 2015). Smart and Hughes also teach that the job description is key when it comes to

the availability of firing options. Hughes advises things such as; “avoiding gender biased

pronouns and clarity,” in order to “provide a reference point for compensation decisions and

unfair hiring practices.” (Hughes, 2015). Dr. Smart’s ideas on job descriptions to hire and fire

clearly align with the teachings and resources of Employee Recruitment and Selection.

Another overall concept that relates from the book directly to the course and class is the

interviewing guidelines. Smart suggests using whatever it takes to figure out if an applicant is an

A-player in an interview (Smart, 1999). One topic that was discussed and evaluated in class was

the Personality Inventory Exercise. This exercise provided a result, after answering several

questions, which told each student their personality type, as it relates to the business realm

(Personality Inventory, 2015). Class discussions from the inventory exercise led to how this

would be useful as en employer to know if an applicant is a great fit for the company at hand.

This practice would be a great way to support Smart’s ideals to hire A-Players that fit the

company culture.

Overall, Top Grading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping

the Best People by Bradford Smart really just reinforced a lot of topics that have been discussed;

however, this medium allowed students to apply learned material to an actual business forum,

which allowed for further clarification. The combination of Employee Recruitment and

Selection and Top Grading, has allowed optimum material and exposure for real-life application

in the business realm.

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Part III: Required Reference

Smart, B. (1999). Topgrading: How leading companies win by hiring, coaching, and keeping the best people. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press.

Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the Cost of Living in Two Cities. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

Hughes, C. (2015). Writing Effective Job Descriptions. OnCourse.

Personality Inventory Exercise. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from https://resources.oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/attachment/SP15-BL-SPEA-V479-30179/Assignments/55e304d6-9f3f-445f-b1f8-bb9e0458c679/Personality%20Inventory%20Exercise.pdf