What it Takes to Make ‘Star’ Hires Pay Off

Groysberg, B., Lee, L. & Abrahams, R. (2010). What it takes to make ‘star’ hires pay off. Retrieved February 19, 2010 from: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/files/saleable-pdfs/51220.pdf.

This article, which was published by MIT’s Sloan Management Review, discusses how managers should find, hire, and get the most out of ‘star’ performance employees. One very important aspect managers should consider is to surround the top-notch hire with co-workers that are equally high-quality performers. The authors state that to get the best out of these top-performers, that they should not be treated as solo performers. In addition, they list four other mistakes managers make in hiring and developing star employees. One is overestimating the importance of pay; overpaying star employees is not necessarily the right way to go because it can lead to other problems, especially with other employees. Two, allowing stars to go solo can lead to an atmosphere of too much competitiveness and not enough collaboration. Three, focusing too narrowly, which is referring to focusing on star performers only in one department instead on the company as a whole. And four, ignoring the talent that is already on your payroll is a mistake. Managers need to look within their organization to find and develop star performers and not just focus on hiring from the outside. This article is a very good resource for managers because finding, developing, and retaining high performers, can go a long way in helping a company to grow and to prosper.