Your Hiring Strategy Is Setting You Up to Fail Before Day One | Mike Matalone
6/24/20261 hr 12 min
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Window Nation had 80% employee turnover. Within 6 months, Mike Matalone brought it
down to 23% — without changing their sales process, marketing, or compensation.
The only thing he changed was how they hired, onboarded, and developed their people.
Mike is the founder of XP3 Talent Systems and the bestselling author of Hire, Train,
Retain. He spent 5 years coaching 45 CEOs through Vistage, where he discovered that
80-90% of all business problems trace back to one thing: people.
In this episode, Tommy and Mike break down the exact people operating system that
transforms average hires into A players in 30 days — and why the owners who think
they can hire their way to a great team are already losing.
⏱️ CHAPTERS ⏱️
00:00 Intro
00:24 XP3 Origin Story
06:59 Window Nation Turnaround
12:34 Three Hiring Criteria
18:14 Psychological Connection
23:44 Personality Assessments
30:42 AI For Interviews
36:04 Wow Onboarding
42:56 Company Advocates
53:19 What's In It For Them
1:01:14 Define Success
1:06:24 Build A Business Not A Job
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMike Matalone· Guest0:00
I like to say it's like asking your employees to win a race, but not telling them where the finish line is. Part of e- whether it's hiring or existing employees, one of the first things to focus on is define success in their role. Salespeople, we usually do a pretty good job within home improvement, right? 'Cause we give them specific goals daily, weekly. But are you doing that for every other employee?
Tommy Mello· Host0:20
CSRs, dispatchers- Oh ... managers, yeah. Welcome back to Home Service Expert. I am working in Atlanta today, and I got Mike Maddalone here. He's an expert in talent strategy, hiring systems, employee engagement, behavioral science, onboarding, retention, and leadership development. Award-winning speaker, Amazon bestselling author, former Vistage chair and speaker. 20-plus years coaching CEOs and business owners on people strategy. Over 500 keynotes and workshops across the United States, Canada, the UK. Former chief talent officer at Window Nation, the third-largest window replacement contractor in the US. Recently started a premium deck building company to prove his own systems work in home services startup based in Bumpus, VA. XP3 Talent System is specifically validating people operating system that helps companies hire, train, and retain high-performing teams. Offers a 90-day talent mastery program backed by 100% guaranteed results. Primary services: construction, trades, and service businesses. Clients include Window Nation, Outback Deck, Contract Exteriors, Jerry's Roofing and Siding. Also authored Hire, Train, Retain, second edition bestselling book, forwarded