Have you ever wondered why it is some employees stand out at the start of their employment and others take time and effort to become great?
I have spent decades trying to discover what the difference is between these employees.
Extraordinary employees are rare, you can have good, great, even bad, but only ever a few extraordinary at any given time.
My research led me to some interesting facts I’d like to share, hopefully knowing these can help you determine the staff who are going to be with you for the long haul, the staff you will always be able to rely on.
One of the most interesting things to come out of my research is the staff did not fit into a similar category, they weren’t the smartest, sportiest, tallest, they didn’t all come from public or private schooling, it became extremely hard to find their similarities.
I did find they all had the following 11 workplace practices in common.
- A positive attitude in life and toward their work.
- Arrived to work early and stayed later if required.
- Asked questions first before engaging in store gossip.
- Remained available for the initial times they gave.
- Wanted to be better and asked for performance feedback.
- Always wore the correct dress code.
- Liked serving customers, as well as having customer awareness.
- Called you themselves if they were sick.
- Used initiative by giving solutions rather than seeking answers.
- Great communicators, listening, sharing, and replying to all relevant communication.
- Grateful for their jobs.
Most would think the majority of these practises should be common, they are not, so if you find employees who fulfill all these practices, hold on to them tightly as they will be your shining stars.
Go through your current list of staff and see how many are doing the 11 practices already, if you don’t have any, I suggest you need to have an intake, or you may be able to seek someone who can help you to impart this knowledge to your staff.
When staff have these practices or you help them to, there is so much benefit in it for them. They will be the staff you look after the most, more likely to give them the extra shifts, or the shifts they prefer, allowing them the time off they request and offering them positions within your business that will help advance their skills and later careers.
Business is a two-way street, having always tried to help my staff understand if they look after the business will always look after them.
When I felt the most out of touch with my business was when I did not have at least one extraordinary employee amongst my staff, and the best I have ever felt is when I have a team full of them.
This is the research I have spent years working on and putting together the pieces, I look back over the years and can still list off my extraordinary staff, simply by remembering those who had all the 11 workplace practices.
Extraordinary employees are out there and finding or creating them will help improve your business.
