Tips on How to Become a Good Employee

Both soft skills and technical skills, or hard skills, are equally important in an employee. Soft skills include the social expertise, personality and character makeup, communication skills, emotional intelligence, influence, and approach to work that an employee shows. These serve to complement the hard skills; those abilities that have been learned and can be measured and quantified; and can therefore, make an employee more of an asset to a company.

Here are some of the top skills and characteristics of a good employee:

Knowing the why, as well as the what

Good employees know the reason why their job exists, above just knowing how to do their job. This allows them to come up with new suggestions and ideas to improve their tasks.

Professionalism 

Being polite, well-spoken, calm, and presentable is all part of being professional at work.

Honesty and integrity

Telling the truth about tricky subjects, such as workload, work/life balance, difficult customers or colleagues, and ineffective procedures makes for a good employee

Innovative ideas

Employees who bring innovative ideas and suggestions forward that will impact positively are an asset to a company. Stagnation and complacency are the enemy of growth.

Problem-solving abilities

Employees considered as good are those who are not fazed by challenges; those who bring their best efforts to solve problems.

Ambitious

When employees have a clear, personal career plan or goal in mind, they’re not under the assumption that their employer will drive their career for them, so they strive for advancement.

Dependability, reliability, and responsibility

Good employees take responsibility for their actions; they are dependable; arrive on time; and also do what they say; they don’t blame others or tear others down.

Conflict resolution

Good employees address and resolve conflict maturely, rather than trying to avoid it, by maintaining respect for those involved, not placing blame, and not acquiescing just to keep the peace.

Positive attitude

Employees who bring a positive attitude to work have a positive impact on those around them and also improve the energy in the team.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is about being mindful of one’s own state of emotions, as well as those in the team. Therefore, knowing how to manage these well is an important key to being a good employee.

Teamwork 

The ability to work with other people in a team, by fostering relationships in a professional manner, in order to achieve a common goal, is an asset to any company.

Willingness to learn

Hard skills attained through education are not enough for good employees; they’re however, open minded to new ideas, and they share their thoughts and personal insights with the team.

Creativity

Not all people are born creative, but creativity is a skill that can be learned through experimentation, imagination, questions, collaboration, and information processing.

Generosity

Good employees coach and mentor those around them. They generously share their experiences and expertise. They understand that knowledge is only power when it’s shared with others.

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Culled from: Get Smarter.