Key Questions Drive Results

Recruiting for top talent mirrors the process of prospecting for key accounts. This has never been more obvious as high-performing companies continue to sharpen their focus on simultaneously procuring the best-fit clients and talented, committed employees.

Among the keys to success in these dual imperatives is the ability to carefully structure the right process and to ask the right questions (and in the right order).

Working with a number of clients on strategy and planning, these two initiatives seem to rise to the top of a long list of corporate objectives. It’s become clear that few if any elements will separate businesses from their competitors more than the ability to identify, select, develop, and retain “A” level team members and clients.

The decision to start “Top Grading” your team roster (an approach made popular by Bradford Smart in his best-selling book of the same name) means a big commitment of time and learning a thorough, thoughtful, layered process. This is very different than what most executive leaders have experienced in the past. At first look, it can seem too detailed and (as one client told me recently) a bit “over the top.” However, as with most new initiatives, commitment of the senior leadership team is required to gain traction and for this process to become imbedded in the culture of the organization.

One way to describe the “Top Grading” process is to “ask a lot of questions about a lot of jobs.”  While there is a bit more to it than that, that statement does offer a serviceable description.

In his useful and instructive book “The Socratic Method,” author Ward Farnsworth describes in detail a purposeful approach to skillfully and systematically organizing and layering questions to reach meaningful insights. This often-overlooked skill is well worth the investment of time and effort. The impact it can have on individual and organizational competencies and improved results is dramatic.

For more information and ideas on how you can utilize effective questioning techniques, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com.