Don’t hire top performers! Sounds like the reverse of what you should be doing. But it’s not. Twenty years ago, the recruiting leader for a large retailer told me he never hired the top people from a college class. When I asked him why, he said, “They get restless immediately. They spend more time dreaming than doing, and they’re a bad training investment. Besides, everyone’s chasing them and we end up paying more than we need to.”
So what was his strategy? He said, “We look for sustainers, people with solid grades who have demonstrated diligence and longevity in one area of interest. I look for the student who excelled in one thing throughout high school and college, not the kid who lettered in five sports and starred in the spring musical. Our people manage floors and stores for five years at a time. Top performers go nuts doing that.”
This is not, of course, the only way to hire people who stay. But this conversation has stayed with me for two decades because of its wisdom. It is human nature to want “the best.” But “best” doesn’t necessarily equate to grades. Seasoned managers know that book smarts is only one part of the equation. A lot more of a good match relies on grit, flexibility, perseverance and the qualities not taught in a classroom. If the applicant is not the right energy for the job, move on to someone else.
Are you committing a variation of this same mistake? The truth is grades and the college a person graduates from become irrelevant within weeks after they’re hired. They either perform or they don’t, depending on how well they adapt and you develop them. Don’t make the mistake of chasing the fairy dust top grades from top schools when the hard worker with grit will perform from the get-go.