5.0 out of 5 stars Stop Hiring the Wrong People!

M.R. · January 19, 2013

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } Over the years I have read a number of books on hiring the right people and, for the most part, they've all been pretty similar or at least have taken similar approaches to hiring. I didn't really expect to find much difference with HIRING FOR ATTITUDE by Mark Murphy, but was pleasantly surprised to find the book is built around an entirely new (to me) concept of how to approach hiring the right people.With all of the books on hiring I've read in the past, I felt I had constructed a pretty solid barrage of interview questions and had plenty of resources to find the right people for the job. I very quickly learned just how ineffective many of my questions were and also learned a new way to ask questions that creates a much better way to gather useful information and learn far more about the qualities you are looking for, or the qualities that you are looking to avoid. In fact, it just so happened the morning after reading chapters 1, 2 & 3, I had interviews scheduled. What I had already read from the book had an immediate impact and I felt the interviews I held that day were the most productive and revealing interviews I had ever conducted.The entire approach taught by Murphy makes absolute and perfect sense. First he points out what I already knew: that most people who don't fit for a job are not because they lack skill but because they lack the right attitude. Any company with more than a handful of employees already has a blueprint for building their approach to hiring for the right attitude. You simply create a profile of your star performers and one of your poor performers. You identify the qualities that exemplify each and build your questions in a way that will identify those same or similar qualities in the candidates you interview. The entire process is laid out is very easy to understand and easy to implement terms.I want to make one thing very clear. Most hiring books are going to provide you with what, at first thought, seem like good questions to use in your interview process. They may even give a few pointers about body language, voice inflection, etc. The point I'm making is, basically you read the book and then you apply what you read. With this book, it's not so simple. To implement the advice given here is going to require a lot of work on your part. You're not going to simply read the book and apply what you've learned. To do this right means a number of preliminary steps such as identifying desirable and undesirable traits, developing profiles, crafting questions to fit your business culture and to identify traits, developing "word pictures" to help turn your current people into star performers, and a lot more.I truly believe, if you do the work needed with each of these steps, the eventual payoff will be tremendous. I've already seen an immediate impact and haven't carried out all of these steps. When it comes to finding top tier candidates for your company, I believe this book is a game changer. I give this book my highest recommendation.

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking Fun & Easy Read

R. · March 23, 2012

We purchased several copies of this book for use in a work-based book study group. We broke it down by chapters and discussed 1 chapter a week for 7 weeks, with a different manager giving a synopsis & leading the discussion each week in our Management Team meetings.I personally found it to be a quick & entertaining read on what can be a dull but extremely important topic: hiring the BEST people, not just the most qualified people. Mark Murphy's research shows that failure due to poor skills is often the least important reason why folks fail out at work. In his opinion (and mine as well) Attitude is Everything. Talented Terrors often rule the roost to the detriment of those around them, and Bless Their Hearts really try but just succeed in creating more work for those with better skills.The lessons are fairly easy to follow and we systematically created our own set of Brown Shorts characteristics (total of 4 critical traits), crafted questions for those characteristics (at least 2 questions per characteristic)and are in the process of implementing them as we push off on a hiring spree. I was the first in the group to use them when screening for a new member of my team (to replace someone who CLEARLY did not have the Brown Shorts attitude we were needing!). We did NOT use them when screening/hiring the outgoing person, and wish we knew then what we know now! The first candidates to whom we posed our questions were somewhat taken aback ("Wow...these are really interesting questions" and "Hmmmm - I have never been asked that before" were comments from some very seasoned candidates) and it was actually fun to listen to their answers. Very enlightening, to say the least. Our identified candidate starts tomorrow so we will see how those Brown Shorts traits show up on the job (I will try to update the review at a later date....).The only challenge to crafting your own system is in creating the Answer Key (as other reviewers have mentioned). We do not have the luxury of being able to interview hundreds of candidates, record their answers, and study/categorize the results as Murphy's team does. We also opted not to do an in-house survey of current employees. However, as we implment and hire based on the clear criteria we have set down, we will no doubt be able to craft our Answer Key over time and with experience. We are creating our own in-house training program to help other hiring managers and interested parties (who were not part of the original book group) implement the Hiring for Attitude / Brown Shorts process with each and every candidate we see for every position. We are all looking forward to reaping the benefits.I would highly recommend this book to all organizations, large and small, as the theory behind the book can be applied in any workplace situation.UPDATE: April 29, 2013We have now been utilizing the Hiring for Attitude way of interviewing for 1 full year at our office. I can honestly say that without exception, all of the candidates that we have hired since we implemented "Hiring for Attitude" have been exemplary. We have used our developed "brown shorts" questions to quickly weed out those who would not bring to the table the attitude we are seeking. It has been an amazing experience to see the process and results put into action. This has been a successful enough program that our leadership has shared with other leaders throughout the Region, many of whom are also implementing hiring for attitude.UPDATE: June 24, 2014I am thrilled to report that the process is STILL WORKING for us more than 2 years after implementation. The folks that we "Brown Shorts" interview and who pass have become some of our more valuable, creative, and energetic staff members, and we have now created a great base of emerging leaders because of the process. I will say that my own experience with using this method has been incredibly revealing when someone fails to answer the questions we pose based on Hiring for Attitude. Believe me - there have been cases where, in the past, we would have hired a person based on their resume skills. However, we understand now that failing to utilize this process in our organization will lead to failed hires. It's just that simple. It is my opinion that those who are looking for a quick fix just by getting ideas from the book without actually going through the process will not be as successful as we have been. However - if you take the time to develop your traits and questions, then take the time to fully embrace and implement the hiring system (it IS time consuming) then you will experience the benefits.

Very interesting

D.C. · August 13, 2017

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } Very interesting book. A great help in order to hire better, and hire better people! I highly recommend this book

More impactful than most hiring books I have read.

O.A. · August 10, 2023

I like the fact that there are reasonable action steps to take to help we improve my hiring skills 😉.

Behavioral interviewing with a twist

D. · January 2, 2018

Quite useful although not as innovative as it wants to be. Brings somw specific tips for behavioral interviewing and defining the organisation's key competencies.And of course, as any of these self promoting management books, it could be summarized in 20 pages without loosing much content.

Inspiring and actionable insights

H.A.C. · January 20, 2013

This book puts an actionable methodology around an important but often neglected topic when it comes to hiring: namely, that it's usually someone's attitude rather than their technical proficiency that determines their success.A useful feature of the book is that it covers a lot more than just hiring: the importance of defining what makes your company culture unique (& how that should only appeal to a subset of high performers, those that are suitable for your company); and how embedded a focus on culture throughout the organisation will also improve performance (and happiness) of existing employees too.A great read for anyone involved in managing or growing a business.

Attitude matters

J.P. · February 23, 2018

This book is providing very good insight on hiring model, by adopting this model companies would be able to reduce employee churn and might get rid of the PIGEX model.