So just what is TOP GRADING and how can it help procurement professionals hire and maintain the best talent?
TOP GRADING can help any company with one of its most important strategic business pillars which is Talent Management.
I have always looked at business as though it has three primary pillars on which it rests. They are the strategic plan, the operational plan and the talent management plan. Together they form the bedrock for a successful pursuit of companuies goals. Remove one and the company can fall out of balance and have all structure within the company negatively affected.
A great tool for managing your talent or human capital within all areas of the company including procurement is TOP GRADING.? According to TheGinacGroup this term is being used more frequently in the HR world and refers to identifying the top 10% of performers in the interview practice. The methodology ?relies on unusually detailed, chronological interviews; conclusions are gleaned from patterns which have emerged across layers of competencies as interviewers probe every success, failure, relationship, and major decision in a person?s career.
One of the best educational sources for this process is the book Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart PhD. Published by Prentice Hall Inc. in 1999. This text does a great job of describing what A Player?s, B Players and C Players are, how to manage them through your organization and where the ceiling is for each type of player. Please understand that all companies need all three types of players. All groups of players require management through their group because all resources will not achieve their ultimate potential within a particular player category.
The process of screening for players requires specific detailed level questions relative to a candidate?s education, career, integrity and more. A candidates IQ may also enter into the recruiting process as it may be an indicator of the ability to rapidly absorb complex data sets and apply them to complex tasks while making the same clear to all interested and involved constituents.
If you?d like to know how you can apply top grading practices to your procurement talent pool please contact SafeSourcing.
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