Be a hiring badass

As a leader of an organization, you can decide whether you’re shooting for 1x hires or 10x hires—the ones that will have an outsized (10x greater) impact. The most successful companies look for 10x hires using a precise methodology:

1. Create a philosophy. To land 10x hires, hiring has to be everyone’s job–not just HR’s. 10x hiring organizations hold everyone accountable for hiring outcomes. They look at not just the speed or cost of hiring, but the quality of the hiring metrics.
2. Define the role. A Harvard Business Review article reported that CMOs don’t burn out due to a lack of effort or ability, but rather a lack of clear role design. This is true for any role on a team. Instead of jumping right into posting a job, define what “great” looks like first by looking at people currently excelling in the role. Then, be familiar with—and clear about—the tradeoffs you’re willing to make (if any). While 1x hiring organizations will sit back and say, “I’ll know it when I see it”, 10x hiring companies define the “it” first so they don’t waste anyone’s time.
3. Promote. Typical job specifications in 1x hiring organizations focus only on what the company needs: “The selected candidate will have 10 years of experience in XYZ.” 10x hiring companies think about hiring from the outside-in and market their roles. They think about what makes a job cool. After all, a job is a product that a talented person will “buy”—and then continue to pay for with their time and effort. If it’s a product, it should be marketed as such.
4. Scout. 1x hiring organizations “source” talent. But 10x hiring is about scouting the talent. It’s about identifying people who are a good fit and approaching them specifically, rather than waiting for them to come to you. 1x companies post and pray, while 10x organizations scout and sell.
5. Evaluate. 1x organizations will interview candidates and look for a cultural fit. 10x companies and hiring leaders take a different approach. They don’t think of the “interview sequence”; they craft a candidate experience. They realize that the candidate experience is just as important as the customer experience, and use behavioral assessments and talent optimization tools to continually improve their hiring process.
6. Sell. 1x hiring is all about getting the candidate to sell you. 10x hiring takes into account that the best candidates have options and may need to be wooed. It’s important to note that selling happens throughout the hiring lifecycle—not just at the end.
7. Audit. In 1x hiring, companies follow the same routine and don’t revisit, optimize, or improve the hiring process based on learnings. In 10x hiring, companies test and learn from the hiring process and use this information to improve hiring moving forward.