Certain universally admired traits are proven to be uniquely relevant to the workplace and if displayed in the interview and strictly espoused in one's professional life are the keys to consistent success. Below the career experts at Bayt.com have defined the fifteen character traits that the pros agree are your tickets to long-term career success.
Your word is your bond in the business world and trust and trustworthiness are the keys to building stable enduring long-term relationships. Make sure you are true to your word, completely trustworthy and display the highest integrity in all your actions. Always have the company's welfare in mind in all your decisions and abide by an honor code whereby you play by the rules and take full responsibility for all your actions whatever the outcome or ramifications.
Drive and motivation are that intangible asset that make a professional reach out wholeheartedly to achieve and accomplish more and in better, more efficient, more creative ways, and constantly strive to improve, perfect, and overdeliver. Driven, motivated employees display an infectious enthusiasm that often spreads across the organisation and increases the output and productivity of those that work with them as well.
Successful employees don't wait to be spoonfed tasks, ideas and procedures; they take initiative and come up with well studied well analyzed proposals to meet the company's targets in new creative ways that save time, money and resources and contribute positively to the company's bottom line. Proactive employees are always on the look-out for new ways to meet objectives, increase output and improve efficiencies and always contribute effectively and wholeheartedly to the teams they work on.
Success means keeping the end always in mind and not getting lost in mundane tasks that may or may not be the optimal means to achieving the goals. Effective employees have a clear and unmired vision of the goals they must achieve and a clear plan for achieving them.
There is no substitute for sound communication skills for getting ahead in today's workplace. This includes both written and spoken communications as well as the ability to be an empathic, active listener who is able to listen intently and objectively with the goal of truly understanding. Listening skills are a crucial component of sound communications and an art that must be perfected if an employee is to be truly effective.
Energy, like enthusiasm, is often contagious and can spread across the organization like wildfire. Energetic employees make that extra effort, reach out that much further, extend themselves to a greater extent and apply themselves to their jobs that much more than their tired or burned out counterparts. Energetic employees often pick up the pieces when those around them tire or falter and they are not afraid of taking on new tasks and applying themselves to new goals.
Confident employees are able to comfortably, effectively and professionally interact with colleagues all across the organization regardless of title or seniority and are not afraid to approach those more senior than themselves. Confidence must also extend to dealings with clients, suppliers etc. Employees must be secure enough to handle themselves with poise, professionalism and elegance with anyone, effectively representing the company under any circumstance and regardless of who the second party is.
Consistently reliable, dependable employees are a rock for the organisation and the pillar top management is comfortable leaning on. Dependable employees steadfastly pursue a task until it is completed to the required quality and specifications and do not let their team or company down by giving up unprofessionally midway through a project. They are also firm and consistent in following the procedures and chain of command and keeping management informed of progress at every juncture.
Effective employees take ownership of their work and feel a sense of personal pride in a job well done. They are willing to go that much further to ensure the results are perfect and that the objectives have truly been met in the most efficient and optimal manner and accurately reflect the individual's or team's best efforts. The sense of ownership felt by employees over their work tremendously extends the limits employees will go to in pursuit of excellent results they can take personal pride in.
Persistent, determined employees don't give up when the going gets tough. They battle it out regardless of circumstances and never lose sight of the company's mission or values and their goals and objectives. Determined employees are in it for the long haul and don't let anything impede them or get in their way.
All employees regardless of position are ultimately at the heart of the matter selected for the same job - that of problem solver. Your analytical/ problem solving skills encompass your ability to understand a problem, dissect it, and come up with optimal, cost-effective, time-effective, creative solutions that meet the objective and achieve a positive risk-adjusted return for the company.
Creativity is at the heart of effective problem-solving. At its most basic, creativity applies to a professional's ability to think outside the box to come up with new, optimal solutions that meet objectives within require parameters and resource constraints and save time, save money or make money for the company. Creativity in problem solving can be applied to any job whether it be the receptionist's call taking habits, in-house reporting methods or an ad campaign for a new product.
Organisation in this capacity implies the discipline to manage one's time and prioritize effectively. Successful professionals put first things first; they don't allow trivial unimportant matters to get in the way of important tasks or pursuits and plan forward to ensure that important matters receive the time and attention they deserve. Effective employees do not approach their time in an ad hoc matter - their time is planned well in advance and plenty of allowance is made for unanticipated urgent matters without letting the latter category of tasks clutter or dominate their time allocation.
Successful employees realize that there are always two kinds of solutions to problems - efficient ones and inefficient ones. Effective employees are always on the lookout for optimal solutions - solutions that maximizes risk-adjusted return for a given allocation of resources ie achieve maximum risk-adjusted return for a given allocation of time, money, effort etc.
Effective employees approach their business relationships and usually all other relationships with a win-win attitude. They realize that synergies can be attained by combining forces with others to seek a solution that is better than the solution either party would have attained on their own. By seeking these synergies, solutions are often found that ultimately please all parties and vastly improve on originally conceived outcomes that did nor benefit from the rich team dynamic and win-win approach.
