Employers want policy and procedure followed to the letter! They want someone: to never step outside of the literal and the perceived boundaries of authority; that doesn’t make guesses, and when they do guess it had better be right. They don’t want assumptions, they want facts. They don’t want exaggerations they want reasonably researched and accurately stated comments coming out of my mouth and on the page. Employers are looking for the ideal employee who stays on task, takes breaks according to policy and earns the pay that they are paying them. They don’t want cheaters, thieves or liars. They want people of integrity, honesty and characteristics of leadership.
When I was the one doing the hiring, the negative flags I looked for were:
1) exaggerations
2) evasions to my questions, and
3) people who were dishonest about their strengths and weaknesses.
No one is perfect! Everyone has strengths that could be worth using for the benefit of the company. However, it’s usually not someone’s strengths that will undermine the morale or destroy the project or the bottom line. There are certain strengths that can do that if left without moral compass or common sense and humility. I have found that most people that I’ve hired have the right kind of moral compass, common sense and humility. The ones that didn’t, lasted less time than it took me to cut their paycheck and cut them loose! It is the weaknesses that are intentionally left unchecked that will most likely tear down the good that someone is trying to produce.
A boss, not even a great boss, will step in and cover up for one of their team members personal weaknesses. No employer will ever make a check list from which their employees can then explore ways of overcoming personal weaknesses. After all, the weaknesses are personal issues and don’t fall within the realm of employee evaluation. But the effects of the person weakness on an individual’s performance will be noted.
To Be Continued…. See Part 9
