subject: Personality Traits To Look For In An Employee [print this page] Interviewing can be one of the most time consuming processes for a company and their managers, or so it seems. The amount of money spent on recruitment, interviewing and training is significant. Hiring the right person for the right job is one way that a company can save a lot of money and then invest in other business operations. Many businesses seek outside help using recruitment companies that require a flat fee recruitment charge. These companies typically will not make the final hiring decision as that is up to the employer. In those final interviews, it is important for the employer to look for several personality traits in an employee, particularly as you might only get to spend a few hours with a candidate prior to hiring then after youve offered them the job, youll be with them for the length of their career.
The first trait that a potential employee must demonstrate is professionalism. An employer does not want to hire a candidate who is a risk to them. Employees who cannot or do not follow company policy put the company at risk of complaints such as sexual harassment or other inappropriate behaviour. Professionalism extends into areas such as attendance, punctuality, and personal hygiene as well as what they say and do within their job role. The employee should be counted upon to be professional in their job role every day.
Following up on professionalism, an employee must be honest. If you cannot trust your employee, a manager will have to spend a lot of his time monitoring that employee's actions. This pulls away from other duties that the manager has to carry out and from the other employees that they supervise. A manager and company in general must be able to feel confident that the employee is reliable and will be honest with them. This can help when solving issues that may arise in the workplace whether it is a workplace theft or even professional espionage being investigated. Being honest about anything outside of their professional role which may have an effect on their performance or behaviour at work is also important. We are people and not machines, having a professional relationship with an employee means they will also be able to approach them with any personal issues or difficulties that might change their work practices without fear of reproach or people finding out. Honesty and trustworthiness are crucial to having a professional relationship and would certainly be something employers would look for in people.
The ability to learn quickly is another key personality trait. It doesn't always matter what skills the employee learned in previous jobs, but how quickly that employee picked them up. During the interview process, ask about what new skills the employee learned with previous employers and how he learned those skills. If you are a company that uses a large amount of technology, skills that can be important are ones such as the ability to learn new software and troubleshoot basic computer errors or bugs.
The final trait is the ability to fit in socially. No employer wants to play referee between their employees or employees and manager. The ability to fit into the corporate culture is something interviewers should look for closely.
Even when you have paid a flat fee recruitment agency for the best and brightest candidates with great experience or education, it is down to those final, all important face to face interviews to really look into WHO you are hiring and ensure you have found the right personality traits to fit in well with your business.
