Should You Hire a ‘Star’ Employee?

When you’re recruiting to fill a role, regardless of whether it is a newly created role or a newly vacated role, you always need to assess what type of employee you’re looking for. Are you looking for someone who is top of his or her game with the awards and accolades to prove it? Are you looking for someone who is perhaps less experienced and willing to start in an entry-level position? Or perhaps you’re looking for someone who is simply qualified and willing to do the job reasonably well for the pay you’re able to offer?

There’s nothing wrong with any of these scenarios, but it’s good to know going in what type of candidate you’re seeking. And though it may be tempting to say you’re always looking for the most qualified, most recognized star player, that may not always be the best option. There are definitely times when the star employee is the one you should look for, but there are also some reasons to be wary. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons to hire a star performer, along with some reasons you may want to reconsider.

Well, Should You?

Here are some of the reasons why you may want to consider recruiting a star employee:

• High performers can elevate the whole team. You may want to consider looking for top talent if you’re hoping to bring up the stature of the entire team. Natural competition plays a role, but there is also an element of pride—everyone wants to be part of something successful, so everyone has an incentive to work harder when paired with a high performer. (Though bear in mind, this clearly depends on the entire team—it may take some effort to achieve this, and there may be bumps along the way if there is any resentment among team members.)
• You may see profitability improvements. This is the main issue at hand when hiring a star player—you’re counting on him or her to find and achieve profitability improvements. This could be as simple as high productivity level. It could also be because of the elevation of the whole team noted in the previous point (when everyone is working harder, the whole business benefits).
• There’s often less training involved. If you don’t have time to train someone how to do the job well, that’s a good reason to bring in someone who is already at the top of his or her game, excelling in a similar role. There’s a shorter learning curve to full productivity.

Does this sound like what you’re looking for? If yes, come back for the other side of the story in tomorrow’s Advisor. We’ll outline a few reasons why it may not always be a good idea to only consider top-performers.