Today, in honor of the launch of my new book, The Best Team Wins: Build your Business Through Predictive Hiring, I’d like to share an excerpt of the book with you all. Enjoy!

Why are most companies so bad at hiring?

This question has been on my mind for the better part of two decades, starting with my first job as a recruiter in the staffing industry and continuing through my journey as a technology entrepreneur. People are almost always the single largest expense in a company’s budget, yet most companies have a better process for buying office supplies than they do for hiring great talent. Why?

The answer to this question is amazingly straightforward: Most companies are bad at hiring because most companies don’t teach their managers how to do it. Think about the last time you received formal training on hiring. I won’t hold my breath waiting for an answer, because more than 90 percent of companies lack any kind of structured hiring process. It’s no wonder that the average hiring success rate for companies is less than 50 percent.

The good news here is that companies can dramatically improve their hiring results by implementing a structured hiring process and teaching their managers how to follow it. As the cofounder and CEO of Hireology, a talent technology company that I began in 2010, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with thousands of entrepreneurs, CEOs, and managers every year to address the specific hiring challenges that they face. When we launched Hireology, our vision for the company was straightforward and personal: empower business owners to succeed by helping them build their best possible team. We’d been there as business owners, and we’d made all of the typical hiring mistakes. Nobody had ever taught us how to “do it right,” and we had the battle scars to prove it. We knew there had to be a better way.

Six years later, we’re incredibly humbled that over 5,000 businesses are using Hireology’s platform to source, screen, hire, and onboard their teams. Along the way, we’ve created a process that, when followed, leads to higher quality hires, lower administrative costs, a lower cost-per-hire, and significantly reduced twelve-month turnover. These results aren’t attainable only by big corporations—we’ve remained steadfast in our focus on delivering value to the entrepreneur: the family-owned automotive group; the franchisee; the business services provider; the high-tech start-up; the Main Street retailer—men and women who, like you, risk their personal capital every day to compete in some of the toughest markets.

I’ve written this book to share with you the processes, tricks, and tools that I’ve developed over the last twenty years to turn hiring from a liability into a source of sustainable competitive advantage for your business. You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to succeed in the hiring game. You do, however, need to implement a consistent, repeatable process and measure the right things. But rest assured—you can do this.

This book isn’t theory; it’s a blueprint that will take you step-by-step through the hiring process, from writing the job profile and sourcing candidates all the way through to specific interview questions and testing approaches. Throughout the book, you’ll hear from real entrepreneurs and business leaders who have experienced the same struggles that you have:

• You’ll meet franchise industry veteran David Barr, whose company, PMTD Restaurants, owns twenty-three restaurants across several states. David credits his company’s focus on people (the initials stand for “People Make the Difference,” after all) for the success he’s achieved.

• You’ll hear from Tim Heitmann, founder and CEO of Popcorn Palace, whose company has made the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies an unprecedented ten years in a row.

• You’ll listen to Joe Turchyn, a veteran of the retail automotive industry and director of corporate strategy and development at Burns Buick GMC in New Jersey, share how small but important changes to his dealerships’ hiring model has his stores humming.

• You’ll learn from technology entrepreneur Ajay Goel, founder and CEO of JangoMail, as he talks about the mistakes he made—and the lessons he learned—as he grew his start-up from bootstrapped concept to a successful acquisition.

• You’ll hear from Michael Krasman, founder of several high growth businesses, about the challenges of finding the right fit for your company culture.

• You’ll find out how Cathi Trippe, a senior leader at Phil Long Dealerships, rewired the organization’s approach to hiring and risk management after the 2008 recession—and how these moves generated game-changing results.

• You’ll learn from the perspective of human capital strategist Candice Crane, and learn why employment brand and onboarding is critical for the success of your business.

• You’ll understand from serial entrepreneur Jeff Ellman that sometimes the best candidate has zero experience in your industry.

• You’ll find out from VP of HR at SAVO Tracy McCarthy that paying more for a candidate with more experience doesn’t pay equal dividends for your company.

• And you’ll learn from nationally renowned restaurant operator, author, and speaker Nick Sarillo how businesses of any size and makeup can find and retain great talent.

Can you imagine the impact that getting your hiring decisions right seven, even eight times out of ten would have on the growth and profitability of your business? My hope is that by reading this book and implementing these ideas, you’ll unlock the amazing potential in your business. I’m here to tell you that you can do this.

Read on, and turn your company’s hiring process into a source of sustainable competitive advantage that will pay dividends for years to come.

 

Ready to learn how to build your best team? Click here to buy the book and get started today!