Introduction

Many companies struggle with hiring and promoting top talent at every salary level. According to Bradford Smart, the key to high-performing organisations is ensuring that at least 75% of employees are A Players—top performers in their respective talent pools. However, businesses often face three major hiring challenges:

• Candidates who lie on their resumes and misrepresent their skills during interviews.
• Inadequate interview processes that fail to uncover the necessary depth of information.
• Ineffective reference checks that do not provide useful insights.

Smart proposes Topgrading as a structured hiring process to overcome these challenges and dramatically increase hiring success rates.

Topgrading Myths

Before delving into the methodology, Smart addresses three common misconceptions:

• Not Just for Big Companies: Any organisation, regardless of size, can implement Topgrading.
• Not Focused on Firing C Players: The goal is to hire and promote better, not simply remove underperformers.
• Not a "Rank and Yank" System: Unlike Jack Welch’s forced ranking approach, Topgrading aims to create an environment where underperformers self-select out due to clear expectations.

What is Topgrading?

Topgrading ensures that at least 75% of employees are A Players—those who fall within the top 10% of available talent at a given salary level. Key elements of A Players include:

• Resourcefulness: Ability to get significantly more done with the same resources.
• Passion & Energy: Drive to excel in their role.
• Analytical Skills: Ability to assess and solve complex problems.

The goal is to consistently hire A Players without inflating salaries beyond reasonable expectations.

Why Topgrade?

Companies that implement Topgrading experience:

•  Higher productivity as A Players do not need to fix problems caused by low performers.
  
• A disproportionate return on investment in talent.
• A naturally reinforcing hiring process, as A Players attract other top talent.

The TORC Technique (Threat of Reference Check)

A key element of Topgrading is the Threat of Reference Check (TORC)—a truth-filtering method where candidates are informed early that they will be responsible for arranging reference calls with former bosses. This ensures:

• C Players self-select out of the process.
• Candidates provide accurate, verifiable information during interviews.

The 12 Steps of Topgrading

Step 1: Measure Your Baseline Hiring Success

• Assess past hires over the last three years.
• Identify the percentage of A Players and mis-hires.
• Calculate the cost of hiring mistakes (lost productivity, recruitment costs, etc.).

Step 2: Create a Job Scorecard

• Clearly define success metrics and competencies.
• Use up to 50 competencies for management roles.
• Colour-code competencies based on difficulty to develop: Green: Easy to train. Yellow: Challenging but possible. Red: Nearly impossible to improve.

Step 3: Recruit from Your Network

• Maintain a list of 20 A Players and 10 Connectors per manager.
• Encourage employee referrals with bonuses for high performers.

Step 4: Use the Topgrading Career History Form

• Require candidates to provide: Full compensation history. Reasons for leaving past jobs.Boss ratings of performance. Self-assessment of competencies.

Step 5: Conduct Telephone Screening Interviews

• Conduct a 30-minute phone call to: Review work history. Discuss major successes and failures. Assess cultural fit.

Step 6: Conduct Competency Interviews

• Prepare 4-5 targeted questions for each competency.
• Identify strengths and potential weaknesses.

Step 7: Conduct the Tandem Topgrading Interview

• A 3-hour structured interview conducted by two interviewers.
• Covers education, work history, career plans, and self-assessment.
• Encourages deeper insights and reduces bias.

Step 8: Post-Interview Debrief

• Interviewers exchange feedback immediately after the interview.
• Identify strengths, concerns, and follow-up questions.

Step 9: Draft an Executive Summary

• Analyse patterns across the candidate’s career history.
• Identify trends in behaviour and competency.
• Determine whether to proceed with reference checks.

Step 10: Conduct Reference Calls

• Require the candidate to set up calls with former bosses.
• Ask key questions: Strengths and weaknesses. Reason for leaving. Predicted success in the new role.

Step 11: Onboard and Coach the New Hire

• Review the executive summary with the new hire.
• Establish an Individual Development Plan.
• Schedule quarterly performance reviews.

Step 12: Measure and Improve Hiring Success

• Compare Topgrading hires with non-Topgrading hires.
• Track the percentage of A Players hired and promoted.

Conclusion

Topgrading is a rigorous hiring methodology that requires a commitment to structured processes. However, even partial implementation—such as using Job Scorecards, the Career History Form, and structured interviews—can significantly improve hiring success.

Companies that implement Topgrading gain a competitive advantage by building high-performing teams, reducing hiring mistakes, and creating a culture where A Players thrive.