7 Distinctive characteristics of an Exceptional Employee

Employee rating has been always a challenge for companies. The HR industry tried various ways and combinations of scales to analyze employees; still they can’t really say that they have achieved success. Since the process is based on human experiences, there is always a chance of partiality. I have closely watched and felt it. Rating is done by taking feedback from immediate reporting managers and in some cases personal equations too come to picture and sometimes play a major role.

Employees are classified into the categories like Poor, Average, Good, Superior and Exceptional on the basis of their performances. I have learnt and still learning a lot of things daily when it comes to human resource management in my long entrepreneurial journey. It still becomes a challenge to differentiate between a Good, Superior and an Exceptional employee. 

“ If you want your employees to make it a habit to deliver outstanding customer service, you have to make it a habit to thank them when they do.” - Bill Quiseng

Honest, dependable, smart working, proactive and being a follower are some of the qualities of a superior employee within an Organization. I personally felt that some of these qualities can be found in some enthusiastic employees but it never means that all these skills will be found in all of them that too in equal proportion. We all know that all the fingers of our hands cannot be equal, how can we even think all the employees to be equally capable? 

However exceptional employees are those who are well equipped with all the above qualities along with ‘Thought Leadership’. ‘Thought Leadership’, specifically can be beneficial not only for people around, but also for business in broader term. Obviously the perspective has to be long term as output for effective ‘Thought Leadership change’ are deferred and can be visible on the company’s result. Below are few pointers:

‘Keep Exploring’ is their funda’

Learning never ends for them. They keep on learning and are never satisfied with the knowledge they have accumulated in past several years. They will be constantly working on something, defining or tweaking the processes or workflow to ensure exceptional output at the department or organizational level. They are self-motivated and best part is that you don’t have to ask them to do something. J

They are different, unusual and eccentric. They can surprise you with their way of working and output. They try, stretch and challenge themselves to come up with the best of the best ideas many times.

They just don’t expect any Job Description

They go out of the way to achieve or help on something which is not under purview of Job descriptions. I am very lucky to have such exceptional employees as pillars of my organization who adjust themselves for any role even if it’s sometimes of an Admin role. They are flexible to adjust during deadlines, quickly shuffle on priorities, stretch regardless of time, do few things themselves, to ensure nothing remains pending.  

They start driving to prove, if doubted

‘Inner drive’ is a miraculous strength that is most important to take charge and hold responsibilities in whatever you do in job or business. Self-motivated employees don’t need any outside push to accomplish their task. They have the fire in their bellies to achieve something. If they are doubted for skills or leadership qualities, they take driver seat to prove themselves by leading with an example.  

Skill, talent, experience, education, intelligence is all important and critical but self-motivation is certainly the most important aspect. For them, it’s not just the desire to do their job; it’s much more than that. To be specific, inner satisfaction and company growth keep them motivated.

They Praise in Public and Disagree in Private

Boss Praising in public!!! It always works.

If you have your entire team in any group, praise them there always for every job that is done well. Exceptional employees know this well and are aware of the greater impact of their words in the group.

Exceptional employees are smart enough to understand what sort of issues need to be discussed in groups and what has to be sorted out in private. If there is some issue which is controversial, debatable and sensitive, he will always take it in private with his boss or sub ordinates. 

They know when to be an Individual or Team player

Ah ! It’s very tough to maintain a balance of being an individual and a team player at the same time. Your best resource is always aware of the situation and masters the art of managing himself in both the roles smoothly.

The transition from one role to another is a very easy task for them most of the times. They are individual players, often leading teams and few times working like a team member to ensure their team results.

They are not to please their bosses

Most of time employees are hesitant to ask questions to immediate bosses be it in public or private. They don’t even talk in meetings when they are supposed to talk on various topics. Your best resource will always be concerned about growth, road map, and scenarios of the company and will come forward to raise queries to get definitive answers. It is responsibility of the management to address immediately to maintain healthy relations. This also gives back a message from the management that they are there to LISTEN.

They are ethical and dependable

They are ethical and dependable arms of your organization. They will not try to hurt your business in any way rather they will proactively contribute to its growth. They know the best time to push and pull their efforts as per the company growth planned. They will always have their ethics and values in place and hence, and you will remain assured of having your arms to take care of your business in your absence.

An employee, who wishes to grow with the organization, is definitely an asset. Mark the presence of such a valuable employee to see your business souring and scaling new heights!

This article is originally published by me on www.medium.com