Topgrading: Why Hiring for Attitude Beats Hiring for Experience

When it comes to hiring, most leaders overvalue experience and undervalue attitude.

But experience without the right mindset rarely scales.

That’s where Topgrading, Brad Smart’s proven hiring methodology, changes the game. It’s built around one central truth:

“The best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

And when you dig deep enough into someone’s performance history, their attitude always shows up — whether they’re a problem-solver, a learner, or a blamer.

What Is Topgrading?

Topgrading is a structured, disciplined hiring process designed to help you consistently attract and retain “A Players” — the top 10% of performers who raise the standard across your business.

It involves in-depth interviews that explore a candidate’s last 15 years of work experience, uncovering patterns of success, resilience, and accountability.

Topgrading looks at:

• What they were hired to do
• Their biggest accomplishments
• Their low points and lessons learned
• Their relationship with bosses and peers
• Why they left each role

By tracing behavior and results across their career, you see who they really are — not who they pretend to be in a one-hour interview.

No one can fake a good attitude for eight hours.

Why Attitude Matters More Than Skill

You can train skill. You can’t train attitude.

In Topgrading, attitude shows up through consistent behaviors — how people respond to setbacks, how they talk about former teams, and how they describe challenges.

Brad Smart’s research shows that the competency “Enthusiasm and Passion” — defined as dynamism, excitement, and a positive can-do attitude — falls into the category of “Not Going to Happen.”

In other words, if it’s not already there, it’s not coming.

Hiring for skills without assessing this core mindset is like building on sand.
You’ll constantly manage underperformance, conflict, and disengagement — all of which cost far more than the time it takes to hire properly.

The Cost of a Mishire

One of my clients, a CEO of an employee-owned company (ESOP), ran the Cost of a Mis-Hire exercise. The result shocked him:

“It cost us $1.25 million to ‘free up the future’ of one poor hire.”

Think about that — one bad fit, millions lost.

Now compare that to spending three or four hours truly understanding a candidate’s history, attitude, and drive. It’s not a cost — it’s an investment in certainty.

Topgrading’s Attitude Interview Framework

Topgrading assesses attitude through Competency Interviews before the deep Chronological In-Depth Structured (CIDS) Interview.

Here’s how it works:

1. Identify 12–20 competencies for the role using a Job Scorecard.
2. Assign 4 interviewers, each focusing on 4–5 competencies.
3. Ask questions from the Topgrading Interview Guide that explore behavior, not just opinions.
4. Look for patterns of self-awareness, learning, and ownership.

A Players don’t just talk about results — they talk about what they learned and how they grew.
They welcome feedback. They own their mistakes.
And they show a pattern of energy, accountability, and optimism.

Those are your cultural multipliers.

Reassigning Talent vs. Releasing It

Sometimes a team member aligns with your values but struggles in the wrong seat.

Before replacing them, ask:

• Are they living our Core Values?
• Are they in a role that fits their strengths?

Reassigning, not replacing, can often turn a B Player into an A Player.
But when attitude is missing entirely, no strategy, structure, or coaching can fix it.

Final Thought

Hiring right isn’t just about filling seats — it’s about protecting your culture.

A single wrong hire can undo months of progress. But the right one?
They’ll multiply your momentum for years.

So slow down, dig deep, and hire for attitude first, skill second.
That’s how you build a team of A Players — and a company built to last.

Want to implement Topgrading or improve your hiring discipline?

Contact me at tedb@strategyandexecution.com.au to schedule a free 30-minute discovery meeting.