2. About the Will Marlow Agency
Small ad agency
Founded: 2012
10-person company
Google AdWords Certified Partner
Data-driven ad agency
3. Agenda – Takeaways
1. Why hiring effectively is the most important step
in managing and leading
2. Why the average manager has a .33 record
3. Why you need to start with culture
4. “Making a product is hard but making a team
that can continually make products is even
harder…The product I'm most proud of is…the
team I built at Apple.”
— Steve Jobs
5. The Right People
"My #1 job here at Apple is to make sure that
the top 100 people are A+ players. And
everything else will take care of itself. If the
top 50 people are right, it just cascades down
throughout the whole organization."
— Steve Jobs
8. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2:
9. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
10. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
Employee #3:
11. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
Employee #3: GREAT HIRE
12. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
Employee #3: GREAT HIRE
Employee #4:
13. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
Employee #3: GREAT HIRE
Employee #4: 3 months
14. A Brief Personal History of Hiring
Employee #1: 3 months
Employee #2: 3 months
Employee #3: GREAT HIRE
Employee #4: 3 months
Employee #5: GREAT HIRE
Employee #6: GREAT HIRE
Employee #7: 3 months
Employee #8: 3 months
Employee #9: GREAT HIRE
Employee #10: 3 months
Employee #11: GREAT HIRE
Employee #12: GREAT HIRE
Employee #13: GREAT HIRE
Employee #14: GREAT HIRE
Employee #15: GREAT HIRE
Employee #16: GREAT HIRE
Employee #17: GREAT HIRE
Employee #18: GREAT HIRE
18. What changed?
1. Focused on honest personality assessments
(starting with myself)
2. Eliminated uncertainty in job positions
3. Defined a detailed “company culture” to make
hiring strategic rather than tactical
25. Eliminating Uncertainty in Positions
1. Started with job descriptions.
2. Created an entire online training site with 300+
videos
26. Eliminating Uncertainty in Positions
1. Started with job descriptions.
2. Created an entire online training site with 300+
videos
3. Created a “Black Belt” system to assess/motivate
mastery of responsibilities
27. What about the intangibles?
Company Culture
Shared values, ideals, behaviors and mission
Applicants can better decide if we are good fit
We can decide if applicants are good fit
28. What about the intangibles?
GE
They are transforming the world
They want to be #1 or #2 for any product they sell
29. What about the intangibles?
Facebook
“Move fast and break things”
Lots of people get fired at FB, but not typically for
mistakes of aggression
30. What about the intangibles?
Company Culture
We are a human capital company
People > Product
Our job is to help our clients grow their sales
Our mission is to make our clients look like geniuses
31. What about the intangibles?
Company Culture
Pursuit of knowledge
Helpfulness
Hard work
32. What about the intangibles?
We Defined Our Culture
We put it on our website
We discussed it in interviews
We bring it up at team meetings
We review it to make sure it’s still valid
33. The Right People
"My #1 job here at Apple is to make sure that
the top 100 people are A+ players. And
everything else will take care of itself.”
— Steve Jobs