I have been asked to teach a class at MUST on Work Readiness. The name of the class, “5 Qualities Managers Seek in a New Employee”, was selected before I agreed to teach, but it has made me think through which 5 I value.
The first quality I will be teaching about is Immediate Value.
A new employee shows immediate value by walking in the first day with some understanding of the company and the industry. With the amount of information available on the Internet, employees can be up to speed on perceptions of the company and the trends of the company’s’ industry well before their first day of work.
Another way to define immediate value is how does a new employee add dollars to the company’s bottomline? New employees have the benefit of being “new” – they see things that aren’t working or don’t make sense more easily than those that have been with a company for a long time. How does a new employee point this out? Simply asking “why?” as company policies & procedures are being explained. If they are not easily explained, management might reconsider the reasons behind it.
This happened recently at User Insight. We have an online system for scheduling the different rooms in our facility. While explaining the system to our new receptionist, we realized it was unwieldy – so we changed it!
Asking why allows you to understand how your job impacts costs or increases sales for the organization. This knowledge gives you great place to focus your energies in the early days of your job – every company wants employees that help make them more money.
And last, do you act like you want to be there? Are you confident in the role you have been hired to perform? Your out-itude will influence your attitude – make sure to put your best face forward and act the part while you are learning the role. First impressions are created over the first days in a new job and they are often hard, if not impossible to overcome.
Over the coming weeks, I will blog about the other 4 qualities: The Right Fit, Adaptability, Professionalism and Distinction. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what’s important to you and your organization.
