One thing I really liked about the conclusion of How to Hire A-Players was the reminder that finding good employees is only half of the problem. Once you find an A-player, you have to give them a reason to stay. Herrenkohl (2010) points out that A-players have more career options than weaker performers, which means a company cannot assume that a great employee will stay just because they have a job. If anything, the employees who are contributing the most may also be the ones who have the most opportunities to leave.
I thought the discussion about an organizational chart was especially interesting. Herrenkohl explains that an organizational chart can be used to look at the team the company needs compared with the team it currently has. It can also help identify where A-players fit and where they could potentially grow into future roles. I normally think of an organizational chart as something that simply shows who reports to whom, but Herrenkohl presents it as more of a strategic tool. It can help a business think about the roles it actually needs rather than simply building the organization around the people it already has.
That made me think about how often companies focus on hiring for the position someone has right now instead of thinking about where that person could go. If someone is a great employee, they probably do not want to feel like they are going to be doing the exact same thing five years from now. Herrenkohl talks about the importance of having conversations with A-players about their future and making sure they understand where they fit into the company’s growth. I think this is something that can be easy for a growing business to overlook because there are always more immediate problems that need attention.
I also liked the idea that something as simple as telling an employee, “I was thinking about you,” can make a difference. It shows that the leader is paying attention to the employee’s career instead of only talking to them when there is a problem. I think this is something that can easily get lost as a business gets busy. Leaders can spend so much time dealing with problems that they forget to invest time in the people who are already doing a great job. It seems counterintuitive because those employees may need less attention from a performance standpoint, but they may actually need more attention when it comes to keeping them engaged and challenged.
Another point that stood out to me was that keeping A-players is not just about giving them a better title or more money. Those things can obviously matter, but Herrenkohl also talks about giving employees more responsibility, bigger challenges, and a clear understanding of how they fit into the company’s future. I think this is important because someone can be well compensated and still become frustrated if they feel like they are not learning, growing, or moving forward.
For my own business, I would want employees to see that there is room for them to grow with the company. That could mean more responsibility, a leadership position, more money, or even helping shape a new part of the business. I think people are more likely to stay when they can see how their work connects to the future of the company. This also makes me think about how important it would be to actually know what I want the company to become. If I do not have a vision for where the business is going, it would be difficult to explain to an employee where they fit into that future.
I also think this connects back to some of the hiring dilemmas from Chapter 8 of The Founder’s Dilemmas. Hiring should not just be about filling an empty position. If I am building a team, I would want to think about what roles I need now and what roles I might need as the business grows. That would give me a better chance of hiring people who can grow with the company rather than constantly replacing people when the business reaches a new stage.
At the same time, I do not think keeping every good employee forever should be the goal either. Sometimes a person may eventually reach a point where their goals are different from what the company can offer. A strong leader has to recognize that too. The goal should be to create an environment where good employees have opportunities to grow and where they know they are valued, rather than assuming that money or a title alone will keep them around.
The biggest takeaway for me is that keeping good employees requires just as much intentionality as hiring them. If someone is valuable to the company, I would not want to wait until they are thinking about leaving to show them that I value what they bring to the business. A strong employee should know that their work is noticed, that there is a future for them, and that the company is willing to invest in their growth. To me, that is a much better approach to retention than simply hoping good employees will stay.
Reference
Herrenkohl, E. (2010). How to hire A-players: Finding the top people for your team, even if you don’t have a recruiting department. John Wiley & Sons.