Episode Overview:

In this episode of the Wake Up Eager Workforce Podcast, host Suzie Price takes leaders behind the scenes of one of the most costly challenges in business—bad hires—and reveals how to eliminate guesswork with The FIT Formula, a data-driven system for hiring, onboarding, and developing top talent.

Suzie begins by addressing a hard truth: most hiring failures don't happen because of a lack of skill, but because of missing intangibles like poor self-management, weak communication, or misaligned motivation. With warmth and clarity, she introduces the Performance Dashboard—a simple yet powerful tool that helps leaders define the top three to five priorities that drive success in any role.

Through her signature car analogy, Suzie breaks down the five components of true fit: Roads Traveled (experience), How They Drive (behavior style), Under the Hood (personal skills), Gas in the Tank (motivators), and Where They Park (culture fit). She reminds listeners that hiring based on résumés alone is like buying a car just for its color—you need to know what powers it, how it performs, and where it belongs.

Suzie also shares real-world stories of mismatched hires—including a cautionary tale about a brilliant but misaligned physician—and how TriMetrix® tools reveal the hidden traits that predict true success. From there, she shows how the FIT Formula extends far beyond hiring, becoming a lifelong system for coaching, engagement, and leadership growth.

By the end of the episode, you'll understand why clarity is kindness in leadership—and how the FIT Formula gives you confidence, structure, and heart in every hiring and development decision.

Whether you're hiring your next team member or coaching your current stars, this episode will help you create alignment, reduce drama, and build a Wake Up Eager Workforce—one great hire at a time.

Read the full transcript of Episode 139: The FIT Formula — From Hiring Hopes to High-Performance Habits below and discover how to turn every hiring hope into a high-performance habit.

Takeaways of Episode #139 ---

• Clarity Creates Confidence: The Performance Dashboard transforms hiring chaos into precision by defining the top 3–5 priorities that truly drive success in any role.
• Hire the Whole Person: The FIT Formula helps leaders look beyond the résumé to understand how someone works, why they're motivated, and where they'll thrive.
• Data Drives Development: Superior Performance Attributes (SPAs)Hiring Templates and TriMetrix tools extend far beyond hiring—they fuel onboarding, coaching, and leadership growth throughout the employee lifecycle.

In this episode:

Suzie Price [00:04:11]: "Ninety percent of the time when someone is let go, it's not because of their résumé—it's because of missing intangibles like poor self-management, low accountability, weak communication, or misaligned motivation."

Suzie Price [00:05:28]: "Start where clarity begins—the Performance Dashboard. It pinpoints the three to five priorities that define success in a role and gives leaders and employees a shared vision of what winning looks like."

Suzie Price [00:12:59]: "Hiring based on the résumé alone is like buying a car just for the color of the paint. You need to know what's under the hood, how they drive, what fuels them, and where they'll thrive."

Suzie Price [00:22:08]: "Stop betting on gut instinct and incomplete data. Start hiring and developing with rigor and heart—because when people are in roles that fit, they don't just perform, they thrive."