Talent Makers: The book that will make hiring a sustainable competitive advantage for your business

6 mins, 39 secs read time

We wrote the book on great hiring – literally. We're excited to share that Talent Makers: How the Best Organizations Win Through Structured and Inclusive Hiring is now available everywhere books are sold.

Companies who get hiring right are harnessing the most powerful of sustainable competitive advantages: hiring top talent. After all, the most important asset any organization can invest in is their people. Think about it – who you hire determines the business strategy, direction, culture and overall success of your company.

And today, great talent has more choices than ever. People still do apply for jobs, but increasingly it’s the companies that are using jobs as an opportunity to win top people who will take their company to the next level. That means there’s no room for disorganization or a lack of strategy when it comes to hiring.

Companies need people more than ever. At the same time, people need companies less than ever.
–Daniel Chait and Jon Stross

Even though we wish there was a secret spell, great hiring isn’t magic. It’s challenging – as is software engineering, marketing, being an excellent executive or baking the perfect soufflé – and requires structured processes and committed, engaged leaders who are catalysts for change. We call these leaders Talent Makers.

But don’t worry. No matter where your company falls on the Hiring Maturity curve, this new book will help you take on those challenges and put you on a path toward success. Written by Greenhouse Co-founders Daniel Chait and Jon Stross and available everywhere now, Talent Makers: How the Best Organizations Win Through Structured and Inclusive Hiring reveals how you can move your company from chaotic all the way to strategic while building an unstoppable hiring system.

Not just a book about hiring

Yes, many new books claim, “This is not just a book about [insert topic here],” but it’s certainly true in this case. While the book definitely offers tons of practical suggestions for practitioners interested in improving hiring processes, it’s most importantly a powerful discussion with leaders, for leaders – whether they’re executives, talent or department leaders, hiring managers or talent professionals – that offers a proven framework for creating internal alignment and a culture of hiring that attracts amazing talent.

If we did our job in this book, the head of HR and the CEO will be giving a copy to each other.
–Daniel Chait and Jon Stross

It’s not a stuffy business book either. Daniel and Jon draw from the very real experiences, stories and conversations of the Greenhouse community of more than 4,000 companies. Their stories are paired with a collection of expert insights from leaders at top companies like Alphabet, Stripe, Airbnb, Whole Foods Market and more.

This book provides a step-by-step plan and actionable advice to help leaders assess their talent practice (or lack thereof) and transform hiring. Here’s what’s in store for readers:

• A proven system and principles for hiring used by the world’s best companies
• Hiring practices that remove bias and result in more diverse teams
• An assessment of their hiring practice using the Hiring Maturity model
• Measurement of employee lifetime value in quantifiable terms and how to increase that value through hiring

If all of this sounds great so far, let’s talk about you specifically. There’s obviously a plethora of valuable information in this book (you’ll be jotting notes in the margins throughout and bookmarking the companion assets on talentmakersbook.com), but in the meantime, here are some important key points you’ll discover:

What you’ll gain as an executive

Tools to build a winning team: Building a winning team starts with finding and attracting the best people. That’s why being world-class at hiring needs to be a core competency for you. Talent Makers provides a proven method for making hiring a valued priority in your organization, and details how you as a leader can be a catalyst for that transformation.

Strategies to build more diverse teams: Leaders who follow the Talent Makers approach reduce bias in hiring decisions, create opportunities for more diverse candidates and build higher-performing, more inclusive teams.

Secrets to success from top companies: Great companies like Whole Foods Market, Alphabet and Hubspot have become magnets for top talent. You’ll learn strategies from experienced executives at these and many other leading companies about the power of establishing a hiring culture that attracts and retains exceptional talent. And that success translates to business wins across the board.

What you’ll gain as a talent or department leader

Strategies for wrangling chaos: Many talent and department leaders feel the acute pain of needing to fill a role “yesterday.” To move from chaotic through to strategic hiring in your organization, you’ll need to elevate hiring into a strategic business capability – and not just when you desperately need to hire for a role. You’ll learn how to set up your organization for sustainable and consistent success.

Tools for being a catalyst for change: To create hiring excellence in your organization, you as a leader will need to change both your mindset and your actions. Because being a Talent Maker is all about putting smart structured hiring processes into practice. There’s a shift happening, where the head of sales and the head of engineering are increasingly realizing that the success of their own position is based on how well they hire and retain real talent. You’ll learn to understand what great hiring looks like and how to get your recruiting team to achieve better outcomes in hiring.

A talent leader promotes the concept that hiring – when done extremely well – is a ticket to greater things.
–Daniel Chait and Jon Stross

What you’ll gain as a talent professional

A strong business case for investing in talent: Build the case for improving your company’s recruiting. Learn how to demonstrate the business case and ROI of attracting and retaining the best talent so that you can get the resources and budget you need. Learn to speak the business language of CFOs and CEOs so you can earn your seat at the table.

A measurable process for improving hiring: Build your muscle around operational excellence. Talent Makers lays out how to use data to improve your hiring over time. Having the right skills and behaviors to attract great talent is critical. Intentionally designing these things into automated, measurable processes is how you get to the realm of amazing. Then you continue to evaluate and iterate so you’re constantly improving and showcasing the talent team’s value to the business.

What you’ll gain as a hiring manager

Strategies to reduce bias in hiring: Even if you feel you don’t fall into the above categories, this book is incredibly valuable to anyone involved in the hiring decision-making process. As a hiring manager, you’ll not only learn how to become a valued partner with recruiting and HR, but you’ll also learn actionable ways to reduce bias in your hiring decisions. By taking steps to ensure you’re being as inclusive as possible, you’ll be able to seamlessly and confidently attract great talent from diverse backgrounds. And with this newfound Talent Makers mindset, you’ll uncover a variety of ways to be a talent magnet and bring great people onto your team.

No matter your company size, it’s never too early or too late to put structured hiring practices into place. It won’t be easy, but when you’re great at hiring, you be justifiably confident and everyone will be able to see the results. And since most organizations haven’t figured out how to adapt their hiring approach, the ability to hire great talent at will is very much a sustainable competitive advantage. All you need to get started is to read the book that will help you get – and stay – miles ahead.

Ready to take your hiring to the next level? Get your copy of Talent Makers: How the Best Organizations Win Through Structured and Inclusive Hiring today.

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