Book SummaryWho, by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Who

In Who, business executives Geoff Smart and Randy Street explain that the key to business success is having a hiring process that accurately identifies the candidate who can best fill a specific role. They define an ideal candidate as someone with a 90% likelihood of completing all the important responsibilities and goals assigned to the role.

(Shortform note: Since hiring is so important to your success, you may be tempted to look for employees who’ll perfectly fill the role, but some business experts caution that waiting for a perfect candidate is a waste of time. You must make trade-offs to find the best available person who’ll be successful, though not perfect. Other experts recommend using a similar tactic when you’re applying for jobs. They say you should apply to jobs when you match 80% or even 70% of the qualifications in the job listing, as long as you’re confident in your ability and have soft (interpersonal) skills like good teamwork. Employers value soft skills, and they could arguably boost your performance to Smart and Street’s standard.)

Identifying these candidates is important because the people you hire determine how well your company operates. When an employee fails to complete their responsibilities, they create problems that other members of the company must then spend time resolving. In contrast, an employee who successfully completes their responsibilities reduces problems and gives their superiors freedom to focus on their own important tasks.

For example, if the manager of a manufacturing team fails to provide feedback on his team’s efficiency (one of his managerial responsibilities), his team may fail to fill orders on time. In turn, the orders won’t be shipped on time and the company’s reputation for timely service will suffer....

Who Summary Step #1: Create a Hiring Rubric

The first step in Smart and Street’s hiring process is creating a hiring rubric when a role opens. This rubric lists the role’s important responsibilities, as well as abilities and traits that can help the employee complete those responsibilities. This gives you an easy reference for the rest of the hiring process to ensure your candidates will be able to properly fill said role.

(Shortform note: The hiring rubric the authors describe is similar to a role description on a job listing. Thus, HR experts’ advice on writing job descriptions may help when crafting a rubric. While they don’t recommend creating a new description every time a role opens, they do suggest updating each description when the employee in that role has their annual performance review. This keeps the description up-to-date and lets you use it to evaluate the employee’s performance. Unlike Smart and Street, these experts don’t pay equal attention to responsibilities, traits, and abilities. Instead, they suggest briefly listing the minimum skill level required and then going into greater detail about the responsibilities—like...

Who Summary Step #2: Create a Talent Pool

Before you can use your hiring rubric, you need a group of candidates to evaluate. Thus, the next step of the hiring process is using referrals to create a talent pool—asking people whose skill and knowledge you respect to introduce you to individuals who could succeed in your company. The authors recommend this method over traditional applications, as referrals give you a shortlist of talented, endorsed candidates to evaluate when a role opens in your company, increasing the odds that you’ll find a strong candidate quickly and easily. In contrast, applications require you to evaluate many unfamiliar candidates with no assurance that they’ll fit your hiring rubric.

(Shortform note: Almost 50% of employees are hired through referrals—but some business experts say that referrals may not be as effective as people think. Referred employees tend to be more successful only when the person who referred them supports them through onboarding. Otherwise, they perform at the same level as traditional applicants. Encourage your employees to provide this support by offering...

Who Summary Step #3: Interview Candidates

Once you’ve created a hiring rubric and a talent pool, the next step is to compare the candidates in your talent pool to your hiring rubric to determine if they can properly fill a particular role. As we noted earlier, you want candidates who have a 90% likelihood of completing all the role’s responsibilities, which you measure by tracking how many of the specifications on your hiring rubric they meet. Eliminate anyone who falls below this benchmark so you don’t waste time pursuing unfit candidates.

As mentioned previously, many hiring managers don’t spend enough time with their candidates to determine if they can fill a role. Smart and Street say the solution is an in-depth interview process that analyzes candidates’ performances throughout their careers. Performing this in-depth interview process is time-consuming, the authors acknowledge. However, you’ll ultimately save time, effort, and money by not hiring unfit candidates who’ll have to be replaced.

(Shortform note: Some business experts say making short-term sacrifices to gain long-term benefits is [important to becoming exponentially...

Who Summary Step #4: Encourage Candidates to Commit

Once you’ve identified your ideal candidate, you can move to the final step of the hiring process: encouraging your chosen candidate to fully commit to your job offer. The authors say this step starts during the interview process and continues until the employee has been employed for 100 days. This step is important because many people change their minds about accepting job offers shortly before or after their employment. Thus, they either turn down the offers or quit their new positions. If they stay in their new position beyond 100 days, however, they’re likely committed and don't need further encouragement.

The Importance of the First 100 Days

Other business experts agree that it’s essential to encourage commitment during the first 100 days of employment as employees adjust to the company and decide whether they actually want to work there. One study of over 50 companies found that up to 70% of employees leave within this 100-day window. Within this period, the first day of employment is particularly impactful, with 74% of...

Shortform Exercise: Create a Hiring Rubric

The first step in Smart and Street’s hiring process is creating a hiring rubric that lists the role’s important responsibilities, as well as traits and abilities that can help people fulfill those responsibilities. In this exercise, you’ll create your own rubric by identifying these elements.

Think of a role you need to fill in your company. What is the role’s purpose? Currently, what specific way do you need the role to contribute to the company’s business plan? (For example, let’s say your company’s current business plan is to increase customer retention. The marketing manager’s purpose may be to increase retention by 30% in three years by personalizing their marketing strategy.)