History of Topgrading

In the 1970’s Brad was dismayed at the poor hiring “track record” of most companies. He developed the chronological, in depth, structured “Topgrading” interview, which resulted in better than 90% high achievers hired/promoted. But managers and HR professionals found it to difficult to learn.

In the 1980’s breakthrough #1 occurred – the Topgrading Interview Guide provided an easy “road map” to follow. Managers doubled their success from 25% to 50%.

Also in the 1980’s Brad began consulting with GE, and CEO Jack Welch approved breakthrough #2 – the use of two interviewers for upper-level jobs. The Tandem Topgrading Interview has enabled managers using the Topgrading Interview Guide to achieve 90% success hiring and promoting upper-level employees.

In the 1990’s Brad’s son Geoff got his doctorate and launched ghSmart & Company, the premier executive assessment and coaching firm. Both firms use basically the same interview questions and get the same results. When training, Brad's firm uses a longer interview guide and Geoff's firm places a bit more emphasis on interviewers creating follow up questions. Geoff and Brad published the first article on Topgrading and the 7-hour DVD.

The "tipping point" is coming, with more and more companies embracing Topgrading. Two independent studies (in progress) are validating Topgrading, and two new books (one by Brad, one by Geoff) will be released in 2008.