Effective employees are critical to the success of a growing business. As a manager or owner, you must be able to recognize and filter out the good from the bad. Employees who consistently demonstrate good work ethics can be invaluable assets. Recognize who they are, treat them well and work together to further the goals of your business.
Reliability
A reliable employee is punctual, follows through on his tasks and shows up ready to work. Business owners cannot afford to keep employees who are not reliable. If an employee consistently arrives late to work and routinely fails to follow through or complete his tasks, the company loses time, money and business.
Positive, Helpful Character
Small businesses often have a close, tightly knit, familial atmosphere. It is natural to experience some growing pains or rough days. In general, your employees should have a positive attitude and be willing to help each other out. Negativity and dissent can spread like a disease and damage workplace morale and productivity. Employees should show initiative to make themselves useful and act as teammates to one another.
Proper Communication
Strong interpersonal skills can help form cohesive teams among employees and make handling challenges easier. Employees must communicate effectively and understand the difference between constructive criticism and destructive griping. Related to interpersonal skills is an employee’s outward appearance. If the job calls for professional attire, the employee should dress the part. Strong interpersonal skills involve understanding a little about office politics — the employee should know when to speak up and when to listen.
Altruistic and Goal-Oriented
Good employees are often altruistic and goal-oriented. While receiving a paycheck is a strong motivator, a good work ethic is also putting yourself aside to work toward the greater good of the company as a whole. Doing so leads to working toward goals rather than putting in the minimum effort. To foster good work ethics, an employer must also possess strong work ethics. If you treat your employees as a means to an end, your employees will not respect you or the business. Work on team-building, show respect to your employees, but also be stern and mete out discipline when necessary.
Source: Small Business Chron
