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How To Recognize An Exceptional Employee | March 16, 2016 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—You may not know exactly why an employee is exceptional, but you likely know exactly who your exceptional employee is when you have one. Successful businesses depend on good employees, and every business would like to have more that are exceptional.
You’ve likely managed an exceptional employee. There’s no golden checklist when you are hiring that you can use to spot one, because it’s not about having years of experience or a specific skill set. Those may help, but it’s more about each person’s emotional intelligence and how they interact in your specific work environment.
As a leader, part of your job is to create exceptional employees. Often this happens by helping employees to master skills that benefit your business and likely the employee him/herself. Here are a few of those talents:
1. Focus. Exceptional employees keep their eyes on the ball; in retail that generally means on sales. They don’t let cranky customers, the fellow sales associate having a bad day, or the weather get to them. They deal with the real problems and solve them while ignoring the background noise of work and co-workers.
2. Attitude. Exceptional employees own their own jobs. They do what they should do, unconcerned if they are not immediately named ‘Employee of the Month.’ They work for pride in what they do, not just to be paid. They don’t walk past problems and say “it’s not my job,” they fix them. Their ego is in check and they will admit when they are wrong. They also will do something as someone else has suggested; it does not have to be their own way all the time.
Exceptional employees are convinced that things can always be better and strive to make them so. The same goes for themselves; they’re always striving to improve.
They are usually likable and often are considered leaders in the organization, while outside the business, you’re proud they represent you and your business and brand in the community.
3. Conflict resolution. Exceptional employees typically don’t start conflicts, but they don’t run from them, either. They can be calm and still engage in resolving the issue, and they don’t engage in personal attacks. They are willing to speak up, often when others are not. And they think before they open their mouths.
An exceptional employee does have skills that matter to your business, but skills alone won’t make an employee exceptional. Think back over your exceptional employees and see how many of them fit this general profile. You can read more about these traits of exceptional employees in this article in Entrepreneur, and this one in Forbes.
How can you work with your current employees to help them become exceptional? In tomorrow’s Centurion Sales Strategies Newsletter, we will address how to match your employees to your company’s core values to ensure the best success behind the sales counter, and how to create the kind of workplace that encourages exceptional employees and, by extension, boosts your sales and your bottom line. Look in your inbox tomorrow morning to find out!
Top image: pbconsulting.co