What Are The Qualities Of Good Employees?

Feb 22, 2018Blog, Employee Hiring and Retention

Hiring employees might be exciting, but it’s not an easy task. It’s one of the trickiest strategic decisions you will make for your company. The direction and execution of your business plan— even the future leadership of your company — will hinge on the people you hire. It is important to fill up your company’s roster with the right people, especially if you’re a small business or a start-up where each employee impacts the company performance significantly. Therefore, you must know when to spot the qualities of good employees when you see it.

Today, we prepared a checklist that might help you:

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS ACCOUNTABLE

Have you ever had to work with anyone who deflects responsibility when things don’t go according to plan? Then we don’t need to tell you how annoying that is.

Bad situations happen in every company — everybody f***s up. However, it’s the way someone deals with a crisis that defines good character. Self-consciousness and humility are important virtues of quality employees, and the people who refuse to recognize their own faults lack these values. These people tend to have fragile egos, making them unable to learn from their mistakes. On the other hand, the people who exercise accountability are the opposite. They are honest in their own reflection. These people tend to try their best to reinforce their strengths and improve their weaknesses.

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS DEPENDABLE

When you are able to assign a task to your employee with the peace of mind that they are able to deliver flawlessly, never let that employee go. That’s the kind of person you want to keep on your payroll. A good employee will be someone whose word you can trust. If you’re working with someone who has the habit of flaking and being late, you have to let them go.

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS SELF-MOTIVATED

One of the qualities of a good employee is being self-motivated. You want a go-getter who takes initiative —someone who understands their role in the company and looks for opportunities to add value from their position. It can be cumbersome to always have to force an employee into giving a contribution. You want someone whose ambitions extend outside of himself and onto the team he belongs in. You want someone with a vision of how things can be better, and the grit to follow-through. Autonomy is a huge sign of a leadership potential.

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS ATTENTIVE

Self-absorbed and distracted employees make the worst employees ever. When little attention is given to detail and work processes, it indicates little care and passion for their work. Scatterbrains respond poorly to emergency situations and crisis where focus and quick-thinking are necessary. In contrast, attentive employees are always on their feet. They also tend to be more thoughtful in their suggestions and their execution.

THE RIGHT PERSON IS POSITIVE

Hiring people means you are signing up to have them hang around you. If you are hanging around a negative person, you’re in for a bad time. As the saying goes, one rotten tomato will ruin the batch. If everyone in your company starts hearing negative thoughts and spins on a daily basis, you’ll tend to adjust your narrative into something bleaker. You might even be inclined to make weak decisions and take on less challenge. You don’t want that if you are trying to motivate people into seeing your optimistic vision for the company’s future. Don’t underestimate the power of negativity.

Instead, hire a positive person who believes in your goal. This is essential if you want to be working with someone who wouldn’t bring the whole company down. The right person will always see positive spins to even the worst situations.

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS CONSISTENT

A person who’s only good in the beginning is no good at all. You want someone whose performance you can rely on. You never know what you are getting with inconsistent people — one time they’re okay, another time they’re disasters. Their inconsistency makes them a bit of a wild card and hard to predict. You want to avoid this if you want to maintain a clear foresight and accuracy in your projections.

 

THE RIGHT PERSON IS ADAPTABLE

You are not only hiring employees based on their current ability. You are also hiring based on their potential and ability to grow. A good employee has the flexibility to go beyond their job description and find more ways to add value to your company. You want employees who are constantly challenging what they can or what they can’t do.

 

HOW DO I FIND A PERFECT FIT?

With all these qualities, you might be left asking if such a perfect employee exist. Well, yes, you can actually find someone who fits all the criteria. In fact, that’s the only thing you should settle for. You don’t need to hire a person just because you’ve run out of options.

If you need help finding the best fit for your company, Infinity Staffing provides quality staffing services for forward-thinking businesses. We can cut the BS for you and send out candidates that we can vouch for. You don’t need to go through the grueling process of picking and choosing if you don’t want to.

Ready? Post a job here!