Evidence-Based Recruiting: How to Build a Company of Star Performers Through Systematic and Repeatable Hiring Practices
Atta Tarki
McGraw Hill (January 2020

“The team with the best players wins.” Jack Welch

My own opinion is that the team with the best team players usually wins, whatever the nature, terms, and conditions of competition may be.

In the Foreword to Evidence-Based Recruiting, Greg Hewitt makes this assertion: “The first question every CEO should ask is, ‘How do I create more value for my customers?’ The second question is, ‘How do I do that better than anyone else, while also maximizing value for shareholders?’…[Also,] ‘How do I find a lasting competitive edge?’ The answer to this question is surprisingly simple: focus on your people.”

Years ago, Southwest Airlines’ then chairman and CEO, Herb Kelleher, was asked to explain how it had become more profitable with a greater cap value than all of its competitors combined. His response?

“We take great care of our people, they take great care of our customers, and our customers take great care of our shareholders.”

According to Atta Tarki, “The evidence is clear. The key to maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage in today’s economy is talent.” He provides in this book “the blueprint to create systematic, repeatable, and scalable best-in-class hiring practices — now and into the future.”

Tarki is talking about a process that involves more, much more than recruiting. Organizations must be constantly aware of their current and imminent talent needs; know where the strongest potential new hires are (i.e. those who possess that talent or have the potential to develop it); have an interview process that is through, inclusive, and impressive; also have in place an onboarding program that helps new hires to get off to a fast start; and have on-going programs to accelerate personal growth and personal development.

It is noteworthy that when asked to identify what is most important to them, both employees and customers rank “feeling appreciated” at or near the top of the list. Jim Collins makes another key point about competitive advantage: “It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep the right people.” In most organizations, the right people are those who feel appreciated for their “extra mile efforts” to make customers feel appreciated.

Most of the companies that are annually ranked among those most highly admired and best to work for are also annually ranked among those most profitable the greatest cap value within their industry. That is NOT a coincidence. However different they may be in most respects, all of them have a workplace culture within which the talent, skills, experience, temperament, and (especially) character their people have are most likely to flourish.

This is an evidence-driven book about evidence-based recruiting. The focus is on how the right people ensure a sustainable competitive advantage. One final point: I agree with Atta Tarki that “star performers” tend to be otherwise ordinary people who work well with others to help their organization to achieve extraordinary results.