How to hire A-Players consistently with a streamlined recruitment process
Virtual Success Show
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Episode breakdown
In this episode, Barbara Turley and her co-host Matt Malouf discuss The Virtual Hub’s recruitment process, what makes it different from others, and the secret to hiring A-players in your business.
- The importance of having a great recruitment process
- Three key things to remember when recruiting
- How to determine A-players from B and C-players
Attitude trumps skills every time. You can’t train enthusiasm. You can’t fake enthusiasm, either
In this episode
00:00 Intro
In this Virtual Success Show episode, hosts Matt Malouf and Barbara Turley reconnect as lockdowns ease globally. Matt interviews Barbara about her recruitment process for assistants, exploring how her team identifies standout candidates. They discuss the challenges entrepreneurs face in hiring effectively and how refining recruitment strategies can uncover exceptional talent, helping business owners focus on growth.
2:39 The Virtual Hub’s recruitment process
Barbara Turley explains that traditional recruitment is too simplistic for finding top talent. At The Virtual Hub, they use a multi-step, metrics-driven process to filter candidates before interviews, uncovering hidden A-players from a broad applicant pool. Recruitment is treated as a core business function, with hiring issues traced back to the original job ad and process. Metrics, responsibility, and continuous improvement are key to consistently hiring quality assistants.
8:40 Recruitment status in this crisis
Barbara Turley shares that while applicant numbers have surged, the percentage of truly exceptional candidates remains constant at 2–10%. Despite industry shifts, A-players consistently stand out. She highlights the importance of maintaining hiring standards and using data-driven metrics to filter talent. Experience shows that lowering standards or ignoring metrics leads to poor hires, reinforcing discipline in the recruitment process.
11:05 How to avoid bringing in the wrong people
Barbara Turley explains they tested lowering recruitment standards and saw a dramatic drop in candidate quality, confirming their high bar was necessary. She warns many businesses hire B and C-players out of panic, not strategy. Constant talent scouting is essential. Turley stresses that while skills are teachable, traits like enthusiasm, grit, and attitude are not — and attitude always trumps skills.
14:20 Attitude vs Skill
Matt and Barbara emphasize that A-players consistently stand out through attitude, enthusiasm, and growth mindset — qualities that can’t be trained. Skills are teachable, but attitude drives long-term success. Especially in tough times, strong team spirit and positive leadership amplify resilience and performance. Businesses that thrive are led by leaders and teams unified by optimism, accountability, and a hunger to grow together.
17:48 Three key fundamentals in recruiting
Barbara’s top three recruitment fundamentals:
- People matter — investing energy into recruitment and employee experience pays long-term dividends.
- Protect A and coachable B-players — tolerating C-players demotivates top talent.
- Build a streamlined, accountable, well-run business people enjoy working in. Plus, create recruitment processes that let candidates self-deselect, ensuring only the truly committed and aligned stay the course.
21:59 Wrapping things up
Matt thanks Barbara for her valuable insights, noting he’s taken pages of notes himself. He encourages listeners to leave reviews, share the show, and help fellow business owners succeed with virtual teams — which he believes is essential for modern business. The episode closes with gratitude and a reminder to support the community by spreading these lessons.
