Four steps to build a culture that attracts the best of the best noted by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
Attracting and retaining talent and finding rockstar employees is the top concern of CEOs, and for good reason
by Kellogg Insight for IndustryWeek
People problems are both expensive and common.
Good hires, meanwhile, can be several times more productive than the average performer, according to Jeff Hyman, an adjunct lecturer of management and organizations at the Kellogg School and chief talent officer at Strong Suit Executive Search. “You get incredible value and build incredible organizations by recruiting the right people,” he says.
“I don’t agree that you have to settle for some standard distribution,” he says. “You’re going to have As, Bs, and Cs, of course, but I don’t believe only 5 to 10 percent of your performers can be rockstars. You can have 50 percent rockstars, or more.”
So what can companies do to appeal to rockstars? Creating a culture conducive to attracting and keeping this talent—the subject of Hyman’s new book, Recruit Rockstars—takes effort. Hyman discusses four steps leaders can take to make their workplaces attractive to the best of the best.
Rockstars Thrive on Challenge
Rockstars, by definition, are in demand. Even in recessions, headhunters reach out. “One of your jobs as a leader is to make sure that when the phone rings for one of your rockstars—and you’re not going to stop the phone from ringing—they say, ‘No, thanks. I’m not interested,’” says Hyman.
Creating a rockstar-friendly culture begins with the recognition that what rockstars generally care about above all else—more, even, than compensation—is challenge. They are ambitious, and so they are jazzed by the prospect of facing something they have never done before. Stretch assignments are central to keeping rockstars engaged and also training them for promotion.
