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Top 5 Attributes to a Good Hire

Top 5 Key Attributes to a Good Hire

What are the key attributes of a good hire?  Meaning what type of traits about that person attract you and that in your mind equate to a solid hire.

This is a question that can be answered in as many times as it’s asked, so this is just guidelines that have stood out over time to indicate a good addition to your team.

1 | Ability to Learn

First up is ability to learn.  Does their background indicate that they have either been asked to or taken the initiative to learn something new? And been successful at that feat? When asked about such, can they tell you how and what they’ve learned.  Every job position has some type of learning and associated learning curve, so the shorter you can make this, then the better for everyone.

2 | Ability to Adapt

Second is the ability to adapt. Adapt to what you might ask?  Well initially adapt to their new surroundings, their new role, their new co-workers, their new responsibilities, not to mention other potential factors like schedule, platforms, systems, communication styles, etc.  Then you have the everyday life of changes that occur in the workplace like procedures and processes and such.  So basically, you want to be add someone who is able to adapt and “go with the flow”.

3 | Hardworking

Third on the list is a person who is simply hardworking.  You want someone who has demonstrated in the past to be a person who takes seriously important items like – Prompt arrival times, ability to be a self starter, willing to put in the extra effort for exceeding results, reliability, dependability, willingness to take on new & exciting tasks and more.  These people know how to work hard, how to plan and organize their day, pay attention to the big and the small stuff and just know how “go the extra mile” to make it all work out.

4 | Communication Skills

Fourth is communication skills.  This is a wide open subject, like how they communicate with you, how they interact with others, how they respond to situations, verbal, written, facial expressions, body language and the list goes on.  But in almost any job position, their communication skills in one way or another define who they are and how effective (or ineffective) they are in dealing with others and handling situations that arise or come their way.  So just talk to your candidate and get them telling you about who they are, then just listen.

5 | Integrity

Last – Integrity.  If your company is like most others, then you want to be able to trust your employees so honesty is a big deal.  No lying, no cheating, no stealing.  And in addition good judgment, good values, good morals.

So when hiring, these areas have been of a positive influence and can lead you to make a more impactful decision for your organization. Of course, it’s not fail proof as nothing really is. But they are definitely good pointers to use in your decision making process for the right person.

As President of SOS Sales Help since March of 2017, Craig expertly leads the team that manages the development, execution and growth of Account Management, Partner Operations and Strategic Services as well as HR, Quality and Training for the company in this executive teleservices business. Prior to this, he invested the last thirty years at Infinity, APAC and Entertel in successful leadership roles.