TALENT MAKERS

The co-founders of human resources software firm Greenhouse Software make a strong case for systematizing talent acquisition.

“Hiring is the mother of all variables,” write Chait and Stross in a candid debut that’s directed not at HR managers but at business leaders who “must become the Talent Maker and catalyst for [their] team.” Their fervent belief that senior executives need to be more engaged in the staffing process, rather than simply delegate it to human resources, is the cornerstone of their approach, which aims to help readers to identify, attract, and retain the best talent. This message is conveyed in a tightly organized work comprised of three logical parts: Part 1 walks the reader through the reasons why a “structured approach to hiring” makes sense (“The ‘Why’ ”); Part 2 addresses four specific hiring competencies (“The ‘What’ ”); and Part 3 lays out the tactics for becoming a “Talent Maker” (“The ‘How’ ”). Each section contains observations based on the authors’ experiences with scores of organizations. In addition, Chait and Stross include insights by senior HR experts that validate the book’s emphasis on involving leaders at every level in the process. In Part 1, the authors introduce their company’s “Structured Hiring Framework,” which references concepts that are explained in further detail later in the book, including “Employee Lifetime Value,” the “Hiring Maturity Curve,” and “The Four Competencies,” which include “Finding talent,” “Hiring experience,” “Decision making,” and “Operational excellence.”

The Hiring Maturity Curve is particularly intriguing because it identifies HR practices on a spectrum that ranges from “Chaotic” to “Strategic.” Chait and Stross use lively, appropriately detailed descriptions to effectively contrast what operations look like at each point in this curve; “Chaotic,” for instance is defined as “the Wild West, or a free-for-all,” in which “hiring painfully gets done when circumstances force the issue.” The bulk of the book is in Part 2, in which the authors explain the concept of structured hiring in detail—from the corporate brand that attracts prospective candidates through the job posting and application process and, finally, onboarding. Not surprisingly given the authors’ professional positions, one of this section’s strengths is its lucid discussion of data usage and analytics. Another strong point is the vital emphasis on diversity in acquiring new employees. Part 2 also offers a useful template for a “Scorecard” that can be used to objectively evaluate job candidates. Part 3 defines the term Talent Maker and describes some of the key attributes of a person who wants to become a “talent leader” and eventually develop into a “talent magnet” and a “talent partner.” The authors close the book with an excellent overview of issues surrounding organizational change. Chait and Stross make the point that using HR software—even theirs—is less important than approaching the process in a systematized manner, and they conclude that, for those organizations who figure out how to recruit and hire effectively, “the ability to hire great talent at will is very much a competitive advantage.”

A forward-thinking and enlightening view of hiring practices.