Since releasing my book, The Naked Interview: Hiring Without Regret, I've spoken to many clients and business owners about the topic of hiring and retaining great people. One colleague I recently reviewed the subject with is Meir Ezra, a successful businessman and consultant, based in the Tampa, FL area.

Among his accomplishments, Ezra established and grew a company to $100 Million in revenues in just three years. He has a wide range of experience in many fields, is a successful inventor with several registered patents and has donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations.

Ezra intelligently pointed out that when it comes to hiring, many business owners overly concern themselves with finding what they refer to as "good people". He believes this is too broad of a general notion. Of course, it's important we work with good people, but in business, what we really need to have on our team are people who are productive, first and foremost.

Identifying candidates who will be productive on your team is critical to a successful hire and something I cover in Chapter 6: The Interview where I ask Has This Candidate Produced Results?

It is vital to check the candidate's ability to achieve results. Is the prospect able to translate his or her knowledge into definite results of value? You need to know about that person's earlier products. Then to effectively verify this, check references after the interview.

Another thing Meir Ezra emphasizes when it comes to hiring is how much responsibility there is on the employer to make sure the new hire is given everything they need to become a productive member of the team. This comes down to well-documented job responsibilities and effective training. Your new team member needs to understand not only what their job is, but exactly how to do it successfully. This needs to be drilled until they are competent and confident in their abilities. Furthermore, your new team member needs to understand the overall organizational structure, its purposes and goals and how they can best contribute to those ends.

Finally, like everyone in a successful organization, your new team member needs something to be measured by. Identifying the specific actions they are responsible for taking and what they need to produce is critical. This takes the guesswork out of productivity, giving your new hire and management the ability to quantify production.

Properly identifying successful candidates, training them, monitoring their statistics and optimizing production are areas I work on with many of my coaching clients on an ongoing basis. When all of these areas are carefully managed, the results are outstanding. Staff morale and retention increase dramatically and profitability is maximized.

I introduce how a standardized process can increase your results in this area in my free video series at HiringAcademy.com.

It's great getting input from successful businessmen like Meir Ezra and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. Please leave your own comments about hiring below, sharing things you've found effective or questions you may have. I read all the feedback I receive and respond as well.