The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers [Hardcover]

"Talent management— hiring, developing, and retaining top performers— is essential for any company competing for rare knowledge workers. Cohen's The Talent Edge explains in very clear language how to begin establishing a truly world-class performance management system by identifying which candidates are the most capable of top performance and are the best fit for your organization."
— Stephen McIntosh, Program Manager, Cicso Systems, Inc.

"I cannot afford to hire an employee that does not fit in or is less than fully productive. David Cohen has provided us in The Talent Edge a 'how to' which will ensure a successful hiring process. A must-read in today's competitive talent hunt."
— Robin Wohnsigl, President, Air Canada Technical Services

"Both impressive and comprehensive, The Talent Edge shows why David Cohen is a leading authority on behavioral interviewing. This is a book no one involved in the hiring process should be without. Outstanding in both its scope and practical application."
— Wendy Parkes, Senior Manager, Career Development, Emfisys Division, Bank of Montreal

"I shudder to think how much time, energy, and money is wasted by managers who still go by a 'gut instinct' when hiring people! I'm recommending The Talent Edge to all my clients. It's a solid, meat-and-potatoes book— straightforward, thorough, practical, and useful."
— BJ Gallagher Hateley, coauthor of A Peacock in the Land of Penguins and What Would Buddha Do at Work?

"In The Talent Edge, David Cohen demystifies behavioral interviewing, which is arguably the most popular selection screening tol used in North America. It is an engaging primer for the manager confused by his or her poor choices in hiring."
— Richard E. Boyatzis, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Organizational Behavior, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University

"The Talent Edge is a sharp, thorough, and practical guide for line managers and human resources professionals eager to ensure they're getting the best and the right talent for their organizations. Cohen's approach is well grounded in research but is rich with real-world examples and immediately applicable tools for those engaged in the war for talent."
— Lori Byran, Consultant, and Former Leadership Development Manager for Hallmark Cards, Inc.

A practical step-by-step approach to hiring the right person.

Every hiring manager knows that the traditional hiring and interviewing process is a poor tool for predicting organizational fit and future on-the-job success. Behavioral interviewing can improve your chances of picking the right candidate two to five times over traditional processes. It focuses on how the candidate works rather than on skills, qualifications, and impressions.

The Talent Edge shows how you can develop a concrete understanding of what your own top performers do differently than the majority of their peers, and how to translate that knowledge into a better hiring system. While using case studies from organizations that have successfully transformed their hiring practices, the book articulates the business case for a Behavioral Interviewing system, and provides a roadmap for implementing it.

Comprehensive coverage includes: how to write job profiles and translate them into questions and answers that can be used in the interview; how to prepare for the interview, ask questions, and probe for the right information. The book also offers advice on how behaviors that are defined and proven to be useful in the hiring process can be incorporated into performance management, career development, and succession planning.

There are huge costs to any business for making the wrong hire— in the selection process itself, training, higher rates of turnover, reduced innovation and productivity, and the negative impact on customers and other employees. Whenever you hire talent that does not fit your organization, you set yourself back.

The Talent Edge shines a bright light on the failings of the traditional interview and selection process, and offers a clear, management system based on behavioral job profiling and interviewing. This competency-based approach improves your chances of picking the right candidate two to five times over traditional processes, has a tremendous impact on retention levels, and results in clarity within the organization around goals, values, and the nature of top performance.

The Talent Edge shows anyone involved in the selection process how to use behavioral interviewing to improve the hiring and selection process. It also shows hiring managers and human resource professionals how to translate the principles and techniques of behavioral interviewing into effective processes for managing human capital throughout the organization, far beyond interviewing— in career development, performance management, training, coaching, and succession planning.

The Talent Edge clearly articulates the business case for a behavioral interviewing system and provides a road map for implementing it effectively:

• Explains how to write behavioral job profiles and translate them into interview questions.
• Shows how to prepare for the interview, ask questions, and probe for the right information.
• Features case studies throughout the book from seven companies that have used a behavioral approach to dramatically improve their hiring and performance management processes— AbbottLabs, Calgary Police Service, HMV, Michelin, Sprint Canada, Starbucks, Thomas Cook.
• Includes sample dialogues, interviews, behavioral profiles.

A PRACTICAL STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH TO HIRING THE RIGHT PERSON

Every hiring manager knows that the traditional hiring and interviewing process is a poor tool for predicting organizational fit and future on-the-job success. Behavioral interviewing can improve your chances of picking the right candidate two to five times over traditional processes. It focuses on how the candidate works rather than on skills, qualifications, and impressions.

The Talent Edge shows how you can develop a concrete understanding of what your own top performers do differently than the majority of their peers, and how to translate that knowledge into a better hiring system. While using case studies from organizations that have successfully transformed their hiring practices, the book articulates the business case for a Behavioral Interviewing system, and provides a roadmap for implementing it.

Comprehensive coverage includes: how to write job profiles and translate them into questions and answers that can be used in the interview; how to prepare for the interview, ask questions, and probe for the right information. The book also offers advice on how behaviors that are defined and proven to be useful in the hiring process can be incorporated into performance management, career development, and succession planning.

Dr. David S. Cohen is a Principal in the Strategic Action Group, a consulting firm specializing in human resources development. His work with corporations is in several primary areas: management and leadership development; behavioral-based recruitment, selection, and performance management; helping corporations to articulate their values and develop a strategic vision; creating high-performance, results-focused teams.
Dr. Cohen's background spans both corporate consulting and education. He has consulted with a diverse group of industries in Canada., the United Kingdom, and the United States, specializing in the design and delivery of management development programs and human resources processes that are integrated with the business plan, vision, and values of individual clients.
Dr. Cohen is a sought-after speaker on human resource issues that has presented frequently for groups such as Linkage, the Institute for International Research, Insight, IQPC, the Canadian Management Centre (of American Management Association International), and the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario Annual Conference. He is also called upon as a keynote speaker at a variety of corporate programs.
Dr. Cohen holds a doctorate in Education from Boston University and is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario (HRPAO).