Sales Strategy
‘Performability’ Is A Critical Trait For Employees | July 06, 2016 (1 comment)
New York, NY—It’s always interesting to look around a store or an office and see the various personalities there and how that works—or doesn’t—as a team effort.
Sometimes you think personality drives hiring decisions. Everyone has one (or several) people on the team that are universally well liked and a great person to have drinks with or hang out with. Likability is important, but it’s not everything, although certainly people do get hired for it.
Sometimes performance drives the hire and you can tell exactly why: Jane brings in more sales than anyone else. Or John who does the accounts is always up to date. Or Pat seems to be able to solve any problem and keep everyone happy. Then—as is the case in many organizations—there’s the person you think has potential but hasn’t really shown any moxie yet; you hope they figure it out before it’s too late.
So what are employers really looking for? This article from Inc. sums it all up: Performability. Writes Inc. columnist John Brandon, “What do employers really want? I'll call it ‘performability.’ It's a bit difficult to pin down, yet easy to spot in the people around you. I'm defining it this way. Performability is the ability to get the job done no matter what, without causing any stress, confusion, communication problems, or conflict. The person who has it doesn't rock the boat, and works with others in a way that creates a healthy work environment. Performability always trumps likability. It means this is someone who can be trusted, who won't complain, and who knows how to streamline.”
That, he says, is the holy grail of employee traits. It’s a trait that both bosses and fellow employees appreciate—a lot.
He explains how to identify it in an interview. In his case, he administers an assignment that requires candidates to use the skills they need for the job itself, but also to interact with existing staff. After the interview, he asks his team to weigh in on the candidate’s interaction: was he or she polite and confident and likely to be a good team member? Or terse, abrupt, afraid of conflict, or show any other traits to indicate they wouldn’t be a good team member?
As an employee, do you have performability? Can you get the job done no matter what? Can you offer creative fixes and get things finished? Can you do it without involving your entire team for non-essential help?
If you don’t have it, start thinking about how to develop it. Take whatever current project you are working on, and see how to do it better, from building a client book to re-organizing the back room or scheduling Facebook posts. Can your employer count on you to get it done and not have to continually check up on you?
Likely you know people who excel at performability. Observe how they work and get things done. They are one less employee that your boss has to worry about.
Says Brandon, “The idea is not just ‘works well on a team’ but much more important than that. It's a way of analyzing skills, talents, personality, and every other metric and deciding if a person will push projects forward or cause delays. The right candidates fit right in and everything runs smoother; the wrong candidate is like adding glue to the cogs.”