Employee – Organization’s Asset

Before we go into the details and start discussing the role, duty and performance aspects of a good employee, it is important to first understand the importance of an employee in an organization. 

Let us take a routine example. Almost every one of us visits restaurants with friends and family. Assume for a moment that we are at a restaurant to enjoy our favorite food. Everyone is in full spirit and visualizing the scrumptious food. Taste buds are ready to be pleased, but surprisingly there is no one to attend you and willing to take orders. You are looking at the staff like a stranger, calling the waiters passing by, but everyone is busy serving other tables and other less important jobs than taking orders. Finally, after 15-20 minutes of waiting, you decide to leave for some other place with the intent of never visiting the place ever again.

Now consider another example. We walk into a restaurant and choose our table. Immediately, a waiter approaches us and pays a greeting by sharing the menu card. He guides about the variety and combination of foods available there, takes the order and serves it within a time frame. While dining, he inquires whether we are satisfied or anything else is required of us. The food tastes well, in accordance to the warm ambiance; hence proves to be a pleasurable dining experience. We would, without a second thought, recommend such a place to anyone.

In both the instances the CEO, COO or even the owner of the restaurant had nothing to do with our experience. It was the EMPLOYEE who defined our opinion on the restaurant.

The purpose of this example was just to clarify the fact that how important it is to be a good employee, as it is an employee who makes or shakes the client/customer’s opinion.  You will find a lot of articles, research reports, surveys and even books about the qualities of a good employee. In this piece of writing, we have very smartly and briefly tried to describe the significant attributes of a good employee.

In our view, a good employee is a combination of Personal and Professional attributes. We shall try to discuss both the aspects precisely, nonetheless comprehensively.

Personal Attributes

1. Honesty
2. Punctuality
3. Commitment
4. Etiquette
5. Communication
6. Attitude
7. Integrity

Professional Attributes 

1. Loyalty with profession
2. Innovative
3. Motivated & Action Oriented   
4. Adaptability
5. Hardworking & Focused
6. Team Player

Personal Attributes:

We carry personal attributes when we enter an organization. We learn and earn these attributes from our family, teachers and society. Let’s have a brief description of each one.

1. Honesty: 

Honesty is the foundation of any personality and defines the strength of a character. It is vital and cannot be compromised at any cost. It is a common saying that only an honest man can be trusted. Honesty creates an atmosphere of trust and confidence: meaning something more than not just lying. An honest person thinks before he speaks in order to avoid malicious feelings amongst each other; he says what he means and means what he says. To establish honesty, always express the rationale behind your decisions that best defines your objective, and simplify your statements so that everyone may apprehend your message with clarity and ease.

2. Etiquettes:

Etiquette is basically the credo of the language that you speak. You learn this language from your mother’s lap and others at home; involving societal contributions to this trait. It includes the way you think, talk, act, react, live and so forth. It assists you in developing Behavior. Etiquette is the soul of any workplace; organizations can tolerate poor performance but not poor etiquettes, for if you do not show respect and consideration to others and make them unhappy, it means that you lack professional etiquettes.

3. Integrity:

Integrity is the lifeline for a professional. It involves moral judgment, character, and honesty with leadership values. This is the foundation on which team-mates build healthy relationships, trust, and polish their interpersonal skills to make it more effective. To act with honor and truthfulness are some of the basic principles in a person with integrity. A man of integrity is always a man of his word, punctual, disciplined, focused on performance and solutions rather than playing the blame game which can be highly destructive to an organization.

4.Punctuality:

This trait is like reminiscence, and a lesson from our early days. Since childhood, from going to school, college and then university, we are trained to be punctual. Though it is a very light word, yet has a heavy impact that reflects the responsibility level of one’s personality. The person who values time, can in real sense value time management in alliance with project management, goals and objectives of an organization. Time is more precious than money in an organization, because you can use your time to make money, but you cannot use money to purchase time. It is commonly said that a good manager is a time manager.

5.Commitment:

Commitment is actually your insight which reflects the connectivity between your words and acts. Commitment redirects you towards success; a meaningful commitment gives you a script to handle things when times get tough. Unfortunately, most people quit when faced with tough times, and such people seldom succeed at anything. The most unique feature of success is to own the commitment. The key to fulfilling your commitment/s is to not over commit, which is why it is so important to be selective about what and who you commit to. When you commit as per your fulfillment level, your relationship with the management and co-workers improves inevitably. This makes your success journey easier.

6.Communication:

Communication is a combination of verbal and non-verbal expressions. Both should complement each other. The phrase that “it is not what to say, it is how to say” is the foundation of effective communication. It directly relates to motivation, knowledge sharing, and crisis management. The better you are at communication, the more successful you are at connecting yourself with an upward and downward hierarchy of the organization. The effective communicator is always a good listener, expresses his thoughts positively and talks with clarity. Most importantly, he very well knows that not all places are meant for communication. One thing is important to mention here that communication is a skill, and there is always room for improvement.

7.Attitude:

Attitude is rooted in one's own beliefs and is unique across most individuals. It is considered the 99% of performance and is a combination of contentment along with involvement. A positive attitude helps to cope more easily with daily affairs of life. It brings optimism and makes it easier to avoid worries and negative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of life, it would bring productive changes; make life happier, brighter and more successful.

Professional Attributes

There is a long list of professional attributes developed and discussed by different experts and researchers required by an employee while working in an organization. Here we have discussed some of the very vital professional attributes, which a good employee must possess to be a productive asset of any organization. 

1. Loyal to the profession 

Loyalty to the profession is a by-product of the commitment. A loyal professional knows how to maintain balance between personal and professional life. He always talks about what the management least wants to hear, like he will always mention the mistakes of managers but with solution, non practical ideas of management but with logic because he wants his organization to be a healthy player of industry where there is no chance of mistake or wrong decision. 

 2. Innovative:

Innovation means to bring novelty in ideas and their execution in line with business requirements of an organization. Innovation is like fresh blood for any organization’s growth.  An innovative person is always curious and a risk taker. He always tries to solve workplace problems on his own before asking help from colleagues. He believes in brainstorming sessions with a less stressful lifestyle.

3. Motivated & Action Oriented:   

The reason to move ahead and the passion to accept the challenges is called motivation. It is the motivation that makes things happen. A motivated person never stays in the past and always converts how and why into done. He pairs up with somebody who complements his skills or who can mentor him and get him over the obstacles. To focus on his strengths by convincing himself first is the core competency of a motivated person.  

4. Hardworking & Focused:

There is no short cut to success and hard work never goes to waste. This is the core belief of a hardworking employee. Hard work is a must for a journey to success. In fact success is the second name of hard work. The employee with the attribute of hard work does not think about the success right after but he tries to see the bigger picture and realizes that his work may need a longer period to make it successful.

5. Team Player:

Every organization has its certain goals and objectives. The employees in the guide line of their management work hard to achieve their goals. Until or unless there is no teamwork or team players not even a single target can be achieved whether the company size is smaller or larger. A team player always avoids workplace politics with open mindedness and by appreciating others. He always contributes and celebrates others’ achievements. An ideal team player always makes a real time commitment and delivers more than expectations.

6. Adaptable: 

Adaptability is a personality trait that helps determine how one responds to change. People with high adaptability are known as flexible or team players. An Adaptable employee can perform both ways either independently or as a team player. People who are not adaptable more often are called stubborn. 

An adaptable leader is always a better leader and bounces back more confidently from adversity. Adaptable employee adjusts his style as appropriate to the needs. He always responds to change with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn new ways to accomplish work activities and objectives of organization.