How can employers be expected to find high quality talented individuals in their executive search and hiring processes when they can’t even say what defines such a candidate? While most employers tend to look at solely at a candidate’s resume, studying their qualifications and work history, these are only facts and figures and cannot be expected to realistically demonstrate whether or not the individual in question possesses those attributes and qualities which are crucial to success. However, while a resume may not reveal these aspects, by knowing what defines a great employee, these assets can be easily enough sought in the interview process and through background check questions.
Therefore, to continue the list started in the previous half of this article, here are five more points that employers should look for in candidates, courtesy of executive search firms.
6. One of the most commonly identified attributes of a great manager is one who does not micromanage their employees. However, in order for this to be true and for managers to be able to focus on more important matters, their employees must be able to work effectively unsupervised. This means that these individuals must be able to stay focused and driven to meet the goals set for them by their bosses, as opposed to just loping along, reacting as material is sent to them, and simply trying to stay busy.
7. Great employees do not say that they are great at what they do, but instead seek to demonstrate this fact through their work and their actions. It is one thing for an employee to talk a good talk, telling their employer about the work they want to do and the goals they hope to meet, and it is an entirely different thing for such an individual to actually stay focused and get the work done as quick and efficiently as possible; actions speak louder than words.
8. Those most effective employees are the ones who understand the importance of building trust with their bosses at an early stage so that they can get back to their own important duties without having to worry about whether or not the job they have assigned their employees is getting done. This is something that will take a little bit of time and effort on the employee’s part to demonstrate through their actions that when they make a promise to get something done, they will in fact get it done.
9. Poor employees turn to their bosses when they have problems and then expect their bosses to solve these issues for them. Great employees on the other hand, do whatever it takes to solve problems for themselves, and, if for some reason they just can’t fix it, they will at the very least present the matter to their boss with a number of potential solutions to consider and build on.
10. In case this point hasn’t come across yet, the ultimate objective of any great employee should be to make their bosses work that much easier. Leaders are always typically under great stress to effectively manage their employees’, the work their employees are doing, and carry out their own work in the process, and the better an employee understands this and the more efficient and effectively they fulfill their own role, the less their bosses will have to worry about.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
