One of the most difficult goals for business owners is to find, recruit and hire the right people who will assist them to be successful in their business. What they should look for in potential employees can be confusing. It is my opinion that the most important characteristic business owners will want and need from their employees is exceptional Integrity.
Why is Integrity so important?
Integrity of employees is critical and the most important ingredient because without it the business owner cannot count on receiving the results expected and promised. No matter how qualified, how experienced, or how skilled a person is; if they cannot be trusted then they have practically no value to the owner or the business. If a highly qualified employee cannot be counted on to use their skills, knowledge, and experience to perform and produce the results promised and paid for, then what good are they? Business owners hire people to produce results. Owners get no value from potential results.
What Specific types of Integrity do Owners Need from Employees?
Integrity is a word that has developed many different definitions and nuances. The specific types of integrity that owners will need from their employees can be clearly defined. There are two components of Integrity that owners will need their employees to have within them and exhibit. Owners will need their employees to understand and practice both of the following two components of Integrity at all times.
Integrity Component #1-Responsibility Employees will take full responsibility for all of their actions, by completing all agreed upon or expected tasks, to achieve required results at or before the expected times. Employees will also immediately and fully disclose to the owners and all other affected parties any obstacles to success they encounter, so that emergency actions can be taken to reverse and/or reduce the impact of failure.
This way, owners can count on the timely and full delivery of expected results from all employees, and will have the confidence to know they will be immediately alerted to possible delays or shortcomings, so that corrective actions can be taken beforehand.
The PRINCIPALS of life that govern the Integrity Component #1 are:
A. To agree to perform certain tasks and achieve expected results is BASIC.
B. To complete the tasks, and achieve the expected results within the agreed time creates RELIANCE.
C. To be interrupted by Acts of God is LIFE.
D. To rapidly inform those affected by these Acts of God and focus on creating positive solutions is EXEMPLARY, and creates bonding TRUST, which is required.
E. TRUST must be earned through repeated trustful actions.
F. To violate one's hard earned TRUST, just one time, is SHAMEFUL and DISASTROUS to all concerned, especially the violator, and is the strongest signal of one's LACK of INTEGRITY.
G. The VIOLATION of one's trust will not be tolerated.
H. INTEGRITY is brought by the employee to the position, and cannot be created or destroyed by the employer.
Integrity Component #2-Honesty Employees will be completely honest and open with the owner, by immediately volunteering, and freely reporting any and all negative reactions from clients, other employees, and or people who have interacted with the employees. Employees will also provide their reasons for their negative reactions and the full honest behavior (without any omissions) by the employees prior to the negative reaction. The purpose is to create possible solutions to convert the negative reactions into positive bonding ones. Any withholding of information or delays in admitting mistakes or of having possibly created negative responses is considered a violation of TRUST.
The PRINCIPALS of life that govern the Integrity Component #2 are:
A. To err is human, which is LIFE.
B. To rapidly, fully admit, and explain one's error shows INTEGRITY, which is required.
C. To honestly and earnestly work towards overcoming the error is EXEMPLARY, and creates bonding TRUST, which is required.
D. The VIOLATION of one's trust will not be tolerated.
E. INTEGRITY is brought by the employee to the position, and cannot be created or destroyed by the employer.
Three common reasons Owners fail at managing people There are three very common reasons business owners fail at managing their people to success. They are listed in descending order.
1. The most common reason business owners fail in managing people to success is that they do not hire and require all employees to have and practice both components of Integrity described above.
2. The second most important reason owners fail in managing people to success is that they do not properly acknowledge and reward employees that have and practice both forms of Integrity.
3. And the third most common reason owners fail is that they allow employees who have violated either component of Integrity to continue employment. Keeping distrustful employees poisons the barrel and creates a very unhealthy environment for the high Integrity employees to thrive. In fact, the number one reason highly sought after, responsible and producing real estate agents leave brokerage companies is because the broker allows other agents with less Integrity to stay on. The National Association of Realtors provided this information as the result of a yearlong incentive study. Contrary to popular belief, monetary incentives had much less importance than the Integrity issues with the quality agents.
Conclusion Everybody talks about Integrity, but few people really understand what it is and how it applies to the work place. Business owners are totally responsible for the success of their business, and they want and need to surround themselves with people who have and practice both components of Integrity described above. Owners need to build a smooth self-running team to produce the results of the business to generate the income and profits desired. The entire team depends on the trust and confidence of each team member performing as expected and promised. When just one team member becomes untrustworthy, the entire team suffers and ultimately, so does the business.
Provided as an educational service by Bill Dueease of The Coach Connection, where “connecting great people with great coaches” is their goal. You may receive a free copy of the article “The Ten Paths to Human Improvement” by contacting The Coach Connection at 800-887-7214 or 239-415-1777 or www.findyourcoach.com or coaches@findyourcoach.com
What Business Owners want Most from Employees - To learn more about this author, visit Bill Dueease's Website.
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