20 Traits of an All-Star Employee

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What traits make for a great employee?  Depending on who you ask, there are thousands of possible answers to this question.  We narrowed down the list, collecting the qualities that tie together top-performing employees.  See what traits will bring out your inner star and how they apply to any job. 

  1. Ethical

Quality of work means nothing if it comes at the cost of an individual’s integrity or reflects poorly upon their organization. 

  1. Reliable

When a project/task is assigned that project/task will be completed; or if there are bumps in the road, there is early notification of those bumps and ideas for how the team can reach the main goal through an alternate path. 

  1. Results-driven

Outcomes must be used to inform future strategy or processes won’t improve.

  1. Innovative

They know that to get better results, they must try new things.

  1. Team-oriented

They listen respectfully to other peoples’ ideas without judgment; they ask for and offer support to their teammates.

  1. Curious

They have a mindset which tends to build relationships, promote healthy dialog, expand ideas, encourage the upward flow of ideas and stimulate innovation. They always look for the possibilities in an idea. 

  1. Accountable

They ask the question “what more can I/we do to get the results we desire?” 

  1. Assume positive intent 

They assume the best in others and believe that everyone is doing the best they can, given their current thinking. They do not act on their assumptions. 

  1. Good listener

They give someone their full attention in conversation and don’t multi-task while listening; they hear the entire message, understand beyond the words being spoken and gain deeper insight and perspective. 

  1. Appreciative

They appreciate positive behavior that strengthens relationships and improves morale. 

  1. Energetic

They have a positive attitude and are enthusiastic. 

  1. Role Model/Leader 

They are conscious of the shadow they cast and model the behaviors and attitudes that they want to see in their colleagues. 

  1. Good communicator 

They are able to make themselves understood and do not hesitate to ask others for clarification when necessary. 

  1. Supportive

They try to understand their teammates’ perspectives when deciding how best to support each other.  

  1. Flexible

They are able to work with a variety of personalities, in a variety of conditions, and are willing to adapt to address unfamiliar or changing obstacles.

  1. Self-motivated 

Their work ethic is fueled by a personal desire to succeed, rather than drawn from an external source.

  1. Honest 

Trust is crucial to working as a team, and honesty is the key to establishing trust in a relationship.

  1. Passionate

They allow themselves to become emotionally invested in their work, which yields better outcomes.

  1. Detail-oriented 

Little mistakes can have big consequences, so they pay attention to the details, which allows them to understand the bigger picture. 

  1. Persistent 

When they face a tricky problem, they dig their teeth in rather than admitting defeat. 

How to Find a Job in 2019

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How to Find a Job in 2019

The job market constantly evolves. Twenty years ago, you read paper newspapers to find job postings and had to stay near your house phone to wait for companies to call you back. Ten years ago, it was all job sites and maybe some message boards.

Now, social media, the gig economy and an emphasis on employer branding play an increasing part, once again complicating the process of finding a position. Another year, another set of changes in the mix of potential job-search tools.

So, what’s the best combination of techniques to use in 2019 and beyond? Here solutions for your job search for the rest of the year and into the 2020s.

Job Postings

Job posting sites still represent the vanilla, baseline place to find potential opportunities. Job sites like Indeed or Monster aggregate postings submitted by companies. They provide a good place to start your job search, especially if you have just entered the market.

These sites have a wide selection of current positions and provide an easy interface. Most sites allow you to upload a resume (or a set of targeted resumes), which you can submit to different positions, usually something close to a single-click process. It facilitates a shotgun approach of applying to a lot of gigs in short succession.

On the downside, you can slog through a lot of trash to find a real gem. Also, the posting sites get stale pretty quickly. Once you’ve been out of work for a time, only a few new items come up each day.

Social Media

LinkedIn remains the central hub of social media job searching. However, it is far from the only game in town. You can use a spate of other professional online hubs. You can also use the services that aren’t specifically targeted to career building, places like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

These services allow you to get the word out quickly that you are looking for work. You can also market your skills with relatively little effort on your part. Meanwhile, you can research opportunities and reach out to people…even strangers you want to cultivate as contacts.

The social media path has some drawbacks. These strategies can be indirect, and people are generally leery of social media trolls.

Find Your Dream Situation

Don’t just use a scattershot approach to finding opportunities. The powerful research capabilities the Internet provides can help you to seek out a particular company or the specific position you want.

Search out dream companies and see if they are hiring. Reach out to their HR department…you may get lucky with your time in hand find an unpublicized opening.

Old Fashioned Networking

Everyone knows that networking provides the best opportunity to find a new position.

As soon as you are looking for a job, alert everyone you know. Don’t stop a blanket announcement, hoping people will volunteer help. Contact your best prospects individually and gently press them for connections.

Staffing Agency

Everyone can use a little help, especially during the job-search process. That’s a key advantage of networking: getting other people involved.

Take this to the next level with some professional assistance. Staffing agencies connect with hundreds of companies, allowing them access to large collections of job placements that fit your skill sets.

What’s more, a recruiter will help streamline the process of applying to these opportunities. It’s like nuclear-grade networking. Apply once with a recruiter and automatically tap into their entire network.

Work With Diverse Staffing

Ready to reach out to a staffing firm? Diverse Staffing provides the industry’s best performance. Our knowledgeable and friendly staff are ready to help you jump-start your career.

Why Do Workers Keep Leaving?

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As an employer or manager, you may find yourself asking “why do workers keep leaving?” For some organizations, high turnover rates are a real issue. For others, retention is a lot better, but still leaves something to be desired. No matter where you are at with retention rates, it is important to ask yourself why employees are leaving. Do you offer enough benefits? Do you provide enough salary incentive? Is your managing style to blame? There are many factors to consider, but some of the top things to ask yourself include:

Am I paying my employees enough?

Unfortunately, as an employer, you may not be able to do much about this question. Sometimes, what you can afford to pay employees just won’t be enough. However, before you lose great employees because you cannot pay them what they want, you should sit down with them, explain the goals of the company, and how you see them fitting into your future. By including employees in your company goals, you can provide them with a real sense of value.

Do I provide enough benefits?

Benefits are another tricky issue when it comes to employees leaving. Like salary, your hands may be tied with what you can offer and you cannot really do more than what you provide. For things like insurance, that may be the case. However, you can offset that by offering non-traditional benefits like an extra personal day, lunch once a week, or even allowing some employees to work remotely. When it comes to benefits, think outside of the box.

What is the work environment like?

One thing to examine when it comes to why employees leave is the work environment. This includes things like culture, organization, and cleanliness. Do you provide a comfortable place for office workers to take their lunch? Are warehouse workers have access to a clean space wherein they can take breaks? These are the types of things you should consider when it comes to the work environment you provide for employees. You may be surprised just how many of your employees are leaving because of these issues.

Is my managing style working?

This one may be tough for many to face, but some employees just do not mesh well with certain managing styles. If you find that you have a high turnover rate, then maybe you need to examine the way you are managing. Are you to hands-off with your employees? Maybe you micro-manage your employees? While there are many different ways to manage, you also need to be adaptable to what your employees’ needs are.

Keeping Top Talent

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As an employer, manager, or HR representative it can be a real struggle to find top talent, but more than that, it can be difficult to keep that top talent. As someone who oversees employees, part of your job is keeping top talent working for and with your company or organization. This issue goes beyond trying to retain your employees. The issue is retaining the right employees.

In the past, we’ve discussed how employee retention is crucial to your company’s success, but you also need to make sure that you’re keeping the right talent, not just all talent. Here are just a few tips on making sure you retain top talent:

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement goes beyond just internal communications. Yes, employees want to know what is going on at the company but they want more than that. Many employees, especially top talent employees, want to feel like they are a valued part of the company. This means taking the time to hear them, speak with them, and actually get to know them.

Benefits and Perks

In the past, offering employees more money or better benefits might have been enough to keep them around. However, benefits and perks, in today’s workforce go beyond money and basic employee benefits. For example, if your employees do most of their work online or independently, consider letting them work away from the office for at least part of the time. By offering less traditional benefits, you can keep top talent engaged in their work and happy working for you.

Company Culture

Employees want to work in an environment where they are comfortable, valued, and can feel like they belong. As a manager or business owner, part of your job is to create a company culture. You get to help steer your company into the right direction and into the culture you want for your office or work environment.

Training

If you really want to keep top talent around, then provide them with training opportunities. Whether it is leadership training or the opportunity to go to an industry-specific conference, these training opportunities allow employees to grow in their careers. Employees will improve which will in turn help your organization.

Keeping top talent around will not only improve your business, but it will increase productivity and decrease your costs of hiring new employees who may not be right for the job.

Why You Need to Know Your Employees

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Depending on what industry you’re in, you may find it difficult to find the right candidates or even to retain your best employees. From salaries, to commute times, all the way to employee engagement, there are several factors for employee retention rates. One way to help keep top talent in your workplace is to know your employees.

While there might be a traditional separation of executives and managers from their employees, there doesn’t need to be. By learning what employees like about their jobs, what they don’t like, what they spend their free time doing, and what their career goals are, you can better connect with them.

Here are three reasons why you need to know your employees and make better connections:

1. Improve Retention Rates

It’s no secret that retention rates can affect the activities of your business. From a loss of productivity to the costs of hiring a new employee, high turnover rates have a huge impact on your business functions. By taking the time to get to know employees, you increase engagement and can better satisfy employee needs. Don’t just say hi to employees. Instead, encourage them to communicate with you on ways to improve the work environment and other innovative ideas they may have. Open and honest communication between managers and employees can go a long way.

2. Accelerate Growth

You could have a star employee and not know it. You could lose that star employee and lose innovation, productivity, and opportunity to grow your company. If an employee isn’t comfortable or feels like they don’t matter at work, then they’ll keep their ideas to themselves. When this happens, it could mean losing out on opportunities to grow, expand, improve processes, and ultimately grow revenue. Instead, talk with your employees, establish communication channels, and put effort into making them understand you are interested in their ideas.

3. Increase Productivity

While it was mentioned earlier, opening up communication channels with your employees and getting to know their needs can increase and improve productivity. By knowing your employees, they are more likely to care about the work they are doing, which will increase their productivity. When productivity increases, oftentimes, profits increase. By taking a few minutes every day or every week to talk to employees, you have the potential to see dramatic rises in productivity.

How do you get to know your employees? What are some of the employee engagement success stories at your companies? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments section below!

Retaining Your Employees

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One of the most crucial things in business is keeping your top employees. Not only will your business be more successful with amazing employees, but your customers will be happier, production will increase, and your overhead costs will more than likely decrease. Retaining your employees is one of the best things for your company.

But sometimes that isn’t easy. Employees leave for several reasons. Commute times. Better pay. Disagree with management. The list for why employees leave goes on and on. However, with the right tools and strategies you can retain your employees and keep your business successful.

RecognitionEmployee Recognition

One of the things top employees look for in an employer is recognition. If they’re going to work hard for you, then they want to be recognized for that. For many employees, this isn’t a question of pay. Sure, raises go a long way, but most employees are looking for more than that. If they do a great job with a campaign, make a top sale, or cover for a coworker who is on vacation or sick, then do something to recognize your star employee’s job well done.

Engagement

Employees are looking for transparency and understanding when it comes to their roles and the company they are working for. Managers, supervisors, HR, CEOs, owners, anyone who is in charge of someone else should be in constant communication with those who work under them. When you successfully engage employees, you can better understand them, their points of views, and what changes they’d like to see at the company. Engaging your top employees can help you retain your employees.

DevelopmentEmployee Development

While retaining employees is important, you should also focus on developing your employees. Give them the tools they need in order to grow
as an employee and as an individual. For some, this may mean a continued education program, budgets to attend conferences, or even a community improvement day. By helping your employees develop, you’ll end up retaining them.

Benefits

It’s no secret that a lot of employees leave companies for better benefits. This doesn’t always mean more money, but sometimes it does. Benefits can mean money, insurance, PTO, holidays, flexible hours, flexible schedules, and a lot of other things. When you offer these benefits to employees, they are more likely going to stick around. All of these things further employee engagement, employee happiness, and overall productivity.

Retaining your employees comes down to a few key things: recognition, engagement, development, and benefits. In order to keep your star employees from jumping ship, you need to assess these things and make the necessary changes.

What do you do to retain your employees? Leave your tips and suggestions in the comments below!

 

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Why You Need an Onboarding Process

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Making the decision to hire a new employee takes a lot of time and consideration. You have to determine what skills you’re looking for, how much you’re willing to pay, where they’re going to work, what type of benefits you are going to offer, and so much more. After all that time and preparation, you can still end up hiring a bad candidate, which is exactly why you need an onboarding process.

Having an onboarding process can help you determine if a candidate is right for the job. With an onboarding process in place, you can better engage with new hire, and create schedules for employee reviews. The onboarding process will help new hires better acclimate to their new work environment and in turn create a better work culture.

Onboarding is Cost Effective

No one likes to make a bad hire, but it happens from time to time. An onboarding process can help you in this situation a few ways. Through this process, you can determine early on if an employee is going to be a great fit. Rather than investing a few months’ worth of salary in a new hire, your engaging onboarding process, will help you determine if the new hire is a good fit. Another way you can save money is by having set plans in place. When you have set plans in place, each hire will go through the exact same steps, which means the process will become easier for you over time.

Onboarding Allows for Employee Engagement

Employee onboarding paperworkOne of the crucial steps often overlooked when a new hire starts is engagement. This step in the onboarding process goes beyond filling out paperwork and showing them to their desk. It involves making sure you’re prepared for them, helping them settle in, and introducing them to people in the office. By engaging employees during this process, you can help make them more comfortable in their new work environments. Check in with them a couple of time during their first day, and continue to check in with employees after 90 days.Employee Engagement

Onboarding Helps Create Culture

It’s no secret that company culture is hot topic these days, but many don’t understand that it’s really a result of the onboarding process because when you help ease people into your company, they can more easily become part of your culture. When they are comfortable, they can expand your culture, transform it, and even improve upon it, which will result in a better work place and create happier workers.

What does your onboarding process look like? Do you have any advice about onboarding new hires? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

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