The Green Bay Packers are Hiring
Another football season is almost upon us and here in town, the Green Bay Packers have just started their training camp. “Training camp” is just what the phrase implies–veterans and rookies alike will be competing to make the final roster before the season opener against the Chicago Bears.
For the coaching staff, the next several weeks will be their opportunity to do an up close and comprehensive assessment of their top draft picks in an attempt to answer these questions–“Who can we count on to help us win games and bring home the Super Bowl trophy?”
Drafting ‘sure fire, can’t miss, future Hall of Famer’ players is not an exact science. If it was, the biggest busts in Packers history would never have happened.
To avoid the next ‘bust’ the Packers, like many other NFL teams employ as much science as possible. They gather data on each potential draft choice and match it to their requirements for each position: 40 yard dash times, vertical leap, bench press reps and IQ testing. During training camp the players are put through football drills and game situations to see if their physical skills can translate to performing effectively on the field. Everything is videotaped and that tape is compared to the data for each player. This process is designed to reveal the ‘real’ player and the results are used by the coaching staff in making decisions when it comes time to cut the team down for the final roster. This systematic approach for evaluating talent changes very little from one year to the next. And the success the Packers have had over the last 8 years speaks to the effectiveness of the system.
The Packers’ approach is in direct contrast to how many companies typically go about hiring salespeople. All too often they don’t use a sales specific, systematic process or almost as bad, they use the same process their human resources department uses to hire non-selling employees. The result? Too many sales busts.
My experience over the last 23 years in helping companies grow revenue is that their ability to attract, identify and employ overachieving salespeople is a critical component in their success. In our work together, the discipline in using a repeatable, best practice, hiring model has helped them avoid costly hiring mistakes (think Tony Mandarich).
Sales candidates come in four flavors: Can sell but won’t, can’t sell but will, can’t sell and won’t, can sell and will.
Can your hiring process help you tell the difference?