Ideal Employee Qualities

Studies reported in ‘New Scientist’ in March 2006, are suggesting surprising new theories.

While a cheerful, punctual and intelligent worker may be the ideal employee, the studies suggest there should be room in the workplace for those with less obviously positive qualities, such as moodiness, laziness, lateness and aggression.

The studies, collected for New Scientist magazine, present a new approach to occupational psychology, which argues that a diversity of personality traits should be fostered in today's workplace.

According to the website, News.Scotsman.com, a Scottish psychologist, Dr Colin Gill, suggests that in the 21^st century, personality in the workplace is far more important than in previous eras.

"The studies are emerging because personality traits are relevant to clerical and service-orientated jobs in the post-industrialised economy,” says Dr Gill. “Many of the personality traits would not be relevant to the traditional manufacturing jobs of yesteryear."

News.Scotsman.com explains that according to the New Scientist research, an office gossip, for example, may help to stimulate colleagues and relieve office stress. An employee with mood swings may actually be using the swings to act as a switch between active and subconscious thought, helping to trigger new ideas.

And bosses who have the impression that an employee is lazy may be unaware of research suggesting that the most creative people do not work non-stop to find an idea, but know when to take time out.

Even when seeming to daydream, "lazy" employees may be using their subconscious to "incubate" ideas, according to the studies.

This is all very interesting as a theory, but probably most smartmanager readers, if they have a choice, would opt for their own definition of an excellent employee - “hardworking, cheerful, punctual and intelligent”.

Of course, it’s no secret that the challenge of finding high quality employees in Australia today, in a tight labour market, is on every manager and business owner’s mind. What does appear to be a secret, is what to do about it.

Most employee attraction and retention strategies consist of creating a competitive compensation and benefits package, or instituting an employee appreciation and recognition program. Even worse, many companies – especially smaller ones – think attracting the best employees is a lost cause for them, because they can’t match the perks and programs showcased in the business magazines by the ‘employers of choice’.

Although many companies may not be very innovative when it comes to attracting and retaining employees, that is not the case with all. Some companies are the talent magnets – they continually attract highly talented people. These companies know that the first fundamental for attracting and retaining quality employees isn’t compensation or gimmicky programs, but it is all to do with being an excellent company.

Companies perceived as being top companies attract the best people. Where a company has a strong brand in the marketplace, it has a strong brand in the labour market as well. Where a company is synonymous with quality, it attracts quality people. The perception of the brand is where winning and holding on to excellent people always begins.

The Brazilian and global innovation company, Siemens, with a presence in 190 countries, believes that it is excellent employees that guarantee the company’s future.

As a global network of innovation, Siemens invests heavily in professional training and development. In any given year, more than two hundred in-house seminars are held, involving more than 5000 Siemens people.

Part of the objective with all the training is to prepare employees for the future and increase their employment potential.

When the company is looking for new people, universities are a key source of renewal. The company’s attitude is that each employee can and must perfect his or her core competencies.

Siemens is just one example of a quality company that continually attracts quality people.