It doesn’t matter if you are a small startup or a big corporation, every company depends on attracting top performing talent: after all, no one wants to hire b-players, the cost is simply too much! Don’t go for second best, hire superstars and the investment that you make in an employee will far outweigh their contribution; and whatever you do, never settle for average human resources, because you’re fostering a culture of mediocre performers who work to watch the clock and who aren’t as motivated as you are, believe me: your company productivity will suffer.

But how do you go about finding superstars? always start with people you know, get your friend’s relatives and professional colleagues to see if they can be a good fit for your business, tap into your own network of successful people to get superior retention rates than those that come from other sources and get the exceptional motivation, that comes with it.

If that doesn’t work, another great idea is to utilize LinkedIn to vet, find and contact candidates, you simply start by entering a relevant job title in the search box and you will find a number of people who fit your description, check for their profiles as well as their experience, their personal recommendations and see if they are good enough to get an interview.

Finally, the last resort option is to post listings on job boards such as Craigslist, Indeed, etc. the downside of using job boards is that you will get tons of responses and you will need a lot of time and patience when sifting through applications. Not the most efficient of ways, don’t you agree?

Once you’ve done that initial filtering it’s time for the interview: One of the big indicators that a person is a superstar is that they speak about solutions and not about problems, so it’s a good idea to ask them what things in your company they’d change that they don’t like. Also get a chance to hear how they’d go about solving your problems (Are their solutions thoughtful or innovative?). Don’t forget to test them and check how they go about solving problems, (do they pass their problems onto someone else? Are they chronic complainers?) take into account that only the BEST employees solve problems fast and on their own.

Another important indicator of a superstar is to check how people are currently improving themselves, what books are they reading, what new skills are they developing, what sports and physical exercise they do? passionate people are always learning and absorbing new information. It’s a crucial step to self-improvement that will translate excellently into their job.

Through a robust selection process, you can create a foundation of amazing talent and set the bar high for new employees and hiring managers, never hire someone who is only “good enough”, wait for the best, have some patience. After all, the cost of hiring but nowhere as high as keeping the wrong person. When you are just starting one wrong hire can determine the destiny of your business and as a rule of thumb “You can never fire a bad employee fast enough”.

But even if you follow the right process, you may end up with someone who is less than an outstanding performer. A good tactic to keep that from happening is asking your employees to sift through things using a daily update. It’s really important to get reports of what people do and what results are they getting, that way you know you are doing effective management of people’s talents.

Finally something that you have to keep in mind is that the best organizations not only hire superstars, but they also build superstars, this makes your employees more loyal and productive, ultimately you need to know that people become top performers not only because they are talented but also because their skillset thrives in their particular environment, so you must take into account that sometimes, if that environment changes: their performance will change as well. Train them accordingly. Because the bottom line is that you (the manager) needs to be as insightful as you can in order to really develop the human resources in your organization over time. You are at the centre of change in your organization.