đđ˝ââď¸ The Importance of Bar Raisers
Hello! Adam Thornhill here. âThe Podcast Guyâ saving you 10 hours a week.
Enjoy the 123rd Podup, with special thanks to ChatGPT Consulting.
Today, weâll dive into the best insights and ideas from Lennyâs Podcast.
In âWorking Backwardsâ, Bill Carr dissects Amazonâs innovative processes like the two-pizza teams, PR/FAQ, and Bar Raisers. The later program is a great way for maintaining hiring standards. Today, youâll learn the importance of Bar Raisers and how you can implement this at your company.
Hyper-growth challenges
The âBar Raiserâ process was established in 1999. We were in our hyper-growth phase. To quote one senior leader at Amazon, we had new people, hiring new people, hiring new people. They didnât know our company, culture, or standards, so they were making hires based on personal judgement. How did we fix this problem? Bar Raisers.
Bill Carr
The âBar Raiserâ playbook
The concept is that on every interview loop, thereâs one person whoâs not the hiring manager. They run the debrief meeting. Theyâre an expert on how this process works. They make sure we adhere to it and stick to the objective criteria.
The final decision is with the hiring manager,  but the Bar Raiser has veto power. However, in my 15 years at Amazon, I didnât use my veto power, and never saw it used. The Bar Raiserâs ultimate goal is to balance the urgency bias that every hiring manager has.
To select your Bar Raiser, pick people who care a lot about your hiring process, who are good interviewers, and who have high standards. Itâs a great way to develop leaders with this added responsibility, but the process is a huge time suck.
Bill Carr
Why it matters
As Steve Jobs says, A players hire A players, but B players hire C players, and C players hire D players. Soon, you end up with a team full of F players.
An objective recruitment process can hold hiring managers accountable, helping you to preserve your companyâs DNA and avoid succumbing to the urgency bias.
Next steps
Identify Bar Raisers. Look for individuals who exemplify your companyâs values and have a proven track record of sound judgment.
Set expectations. For Bar Raisers to work, they need to hold hiring managers accountable, bring a fresh perspective, and ask direct questions.
Train your Bar Raisers. Ensure Bar Raisers intimately understand your hiring process and the evaluation criteria for each role.
Train everyone else. Your team will likely find this shift challenging - teach them why Bar Raisers are important and how this process avoids bad hires.
Wait until it hurts. Given the impact AI is having on productivity, hold fire on hiring for new roles until thereâs a clear need and early signs of internal pain.
Your thoughts?
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Quotes were pulled at different points of the episode. Sentences were left out to make the narrative more concise. Podup is not associated or affiliated with any podcast.