How To Create A Scorecard For Topgrading

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Introduction

If you are interviewing job applicants by way of topgrading, then it might be a bit difficult to make the determination between Applicant “A” or Applicant “B”. To make the process easier so you can make the best decision, it’s important to consider using a scorecard.

This guide will show you how to create a scorecard for topgrading and how you can use it appropriately so you can choose the right high-quality hires each time you are tasked to find the right people to fill certain positions. 

What Is A Topgrading Scorecard?

A topgrading scorecard is used internally within a company. The layout is similar to what you see in a job description. The only difference is the latter is often used in outside recruitment. Typically a scorecard may consist of the following elements:

Job purpose: This is basically an executive summary of the job and the responsibilities that will be fulfilled by the person who has assumed the role. It will describe some of the key roles of that job and who the person in that position will report to.

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Responsibilities: This section of the scorecard will outline the specific responsibilities that will need to be done. The employee must fulfill these responsibilities on a regular basis. Since this is described on a scorecard, they will be “graded” on how well they perform the tasks.

Specific Measures Of Success: This will be an outline of goals that you need to determine so they can be met by your employees. Depending on the industry or type of business, these elements of success can be measured by revenue, cost, customer satisfaction and so on.

For example, one specific goal that could be set and achieved would be to increase revenue by 25% from the previous quarter or obtaining a customer satisfaction rating of 90% or higher. 

The Scorecard itself: The scorecard is used by all managers to keep track of employee achievements.  This report lists all achievements or accomplishments that the employee handled or completed successfully.  The scorecard can include various types of data such as the following;

Strategic agenda – This is the focus point or agenda of each achievement.  For example a target amount of sales for a sales agent.

Measurements – Scorecards can also include measurements so employees can monitor the achieved performance against the desired performance. A good example is a sheet that offers information on how much a projected sales target was exceeded or missed.

Data – Financial and non-financial data items that might relate to a specific responsibility or goal in the achievement.  For example; for a sales agent this would indicate the target sales amount, actual sales amount and the difference between these two amounts.

Impact – A portfolio which might display the impact that the achievement has for the company or project. For a sales person this impact can be quite huge.  Positive sales promotes the overall well being of a company a great deal.

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Why Use A Topgrading Scorecard?

Here are a few good reasons why using a topgrading scorecard might be a good thing for your business:

Makes performance reviews easy: Topgrading is useful in not just the hiring and training process, but it can also be used on an occasional basis to help determine an employee’s overall performance. If you are an employer that does performance reviews on a regular basis (like every quarter), then a topgrading scorecard can be useful in determining an employee’s strengths and weaknesses. From there, you can also be able to let your employee know of which areas may improve between now and the next review (if need be).

It helps you filter out the good from the bad: This is key in the hiring process. You can keep score of your job applicants and be able to set a minimum total score. If they fail to reach a certain score, then they will be disqualified. You can also determine the percentile of how well each job applicant will score if they have attained a passible score (i.e.– top 10%, 25%, or other).

It can decide who is more ready for a higher position: Consider the following: you have a sales manager who just accepted the position to become a district manager for a different company. Now that the position is open, you can go to your topgrading scorecards and determine which employee might fit the mold in becoming the new sales manager. This could give you a good idea of who might be a worthy candidate to interview and eventually elevate to the position.

How To Create A Topgrading Scorecard

If you are planning on creating a scorecard for the purpose of using it for the hiring process or evaluating your employees, it’s important to know the basic layout of it. Here are some things that you need to consider adding to your scorecard when creating one from scratch:

Set a clear job purpose: This will give those who are responsible for scoring a clear understanding of what the job is. The hiring manager and the applicant must both have an understanding of what the job entails so the latter will be able to perform it with competence.

Responsibilities: This is pretty self-explanatory. This section should have specific descriptions of how the applicant (and later employee) should perform the job. Be sure to list key responsibilities and not create a long laundry list that might be considered overwhelming.

Consider your business goals: How much revenue are you looking to generate this quarter? How high should your customer satisfaction rate be this month? It’s up to you to determine which goals need to be set and achieved so your employees will take their jobs seriously in order to meet those said goals. These are known as the “specific measures of success”. And you can be able to pinpoint who might be able to go above and beyond and determine which employees may be underperforming and why.

List competencies: You must know what competencies are needed in order to hire or employee to perform the job properly. From there, you can be able to score them on a scale of 1 to 5. Determine which factors may dock an employee a point. While you are scoring employees or hires, use your better judgment on how well they perform a certain task.

Final Thought

If you are looking to make sure that every employee in your business is performing at high-quality levels, it’s always good to have a scorecard for topgrading handy. Once you have one structured and set in place you can use them to determine who will be the best possible hire and also who are your best-performing employees as well.

What Is Topgrading?

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Introduction

When it comes to having a high-quality workforce, it is your responsibility to ensure that it will stay that way. Not only will it be easier for you to run the business, but your employees will be very happy and will run into fewer problems that may affect the overall morale. Topgrading might be just the tool you need in your efforts to hire the right kind of people regardless of what position is open. You could hire those who are qualified to take on management-level positions or regular level employees who will come in with a positive mental attitude and help you achieve the desired goals of your business.

Topgrading Defined

Topgrading is something that is more creative in the interview process compared to the same old tired techniques you see with most hiring managers. The intention of topgrading is to help hiring managers and other decision-makers determine which job applicant is the best possible hire based on how well they answered the questions (including being able to solve problems in a mock scenario).

One of the goals that a hiring manager or someone performing the interview must accomplish is getting a good idea of that job applicant’s personality and their professional background that might be considered relevant enough to the position they are looking to fill. In fact, if you want a more thorough, deep-diving method for interviewing candidates, topgrading will be a much better approach compared to asking the traditional line of questioning. Not to mention, the interview process using topgrading is more structured.

With topgrading, the interview process does become more of a challenge. And it’s one of the more creative ways to determine who is a worthy candidate and also determine those who have not done enough to move on to the next round.

How Topgrading Is Done

The topgrading method is rigorous. Each step is performed with thoroughness and set with guidelines that must be followed at the discretion of a hiring manager or anyone who may be in charge of the hiring process. The following is an example of how topgrading could be performed:

Work history screening: This is where you can screen those who have the relevant experience so you can be able to tell the ones who know what they are doing and what the job entails from those that don’t. It is also a terrific way to identify high performing employees.

Phone Interviews: Applicants who have passed through the screening will now undergo a telephone interview. This will be more useful as opposed to in-person interviews that may wind up being a waste of time for a hiring manager and the now rejected applicant. In other words, things can go south quickly. At this stage, this will give the hiring manager a chance for the applicant to discuss their job history and also talk about their experiences with the company, their successes, failures, and whatever pertinent information that a hiring manager may need.

Test their competency: Now, you can be able to do another interview with an applicant so you can determine whether or not they have the competence to perform the tasks and responsibilities of the position. The process will typically last an hour depending on the candidate.

Topgrading interview: This is where the fun begins. This interview can be done by someone who is at a much higher level than the hiring manager. At this point, you will probably need to know about a job applicant’s past experience that may be relevant to the job. And you will also be able to get them to open up about their successes, failures, goals, and even key achievements.

Most interviews are chronological starting with the applicant’s high school years and all the way up to the present. The interviewer can focus questions surrounding achievements to see if the candidate understands tasks effectively.

They can also question strategies used to achieve goals and the resources candidates are happy to leverage to ensure that the job is executed accurately.  This is valuable information for identifying employees with good leadership skills or those with terrific social skills. WIth this information, employees can be leveraged in work areas where they will have the biggest impact.

Reference calls: At this point, this will give employers an idea of how the applicant stacks up. While you may be impressed with what they have to say, learning about them through other references will be key. Someone who has a past history or being a high performer and a good worker will not have any issue giving you the information about their past employers as references. Once you have enough information you can place each candidate within a certain tier (i.e. — top 10%, etc.). The higher the tier, the better the chance an applicant could be hired.

Post-Interview and Hiring

Keep in mind that once you have selected the candidate, the process continues. This will include onboarding the new hire. Plus, you’ll get a good idea of what their strengths are and determine which areas are considered points of weakness so you can be able to help them improve and perform their job with better efficiency. It is important to make sure that the new hires are also trained and ready to use what they’ve learned. It’s not wise to throw them to the wolves and leave them not knowing what to do.

Final Thoughts

Topgrading is one of the best ways to find the best-qualified candidates possible for whatever position you want to be filled in your company. Whether it’s for lower-level employees or for someone with enough managerial experience, using topgrading is more important today in order to put together a business that is staffed with employees who are knowledgeable, willing to work on solving problems, and be able to deliver more than expected results that will lead to achieving your business goals. If you are a hiring manager looking to change the hiring process, consider topgrading as something to try out. You may be surprised by the results it can produce.

 
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