Having the right staff working to better your business will make it productive and profitable. And we believe the most important factor when assembling the right staff is finding people with excellent foundation skills of character, integrity, honesty, values and work ethic, above experience.
Having honest employees with excellent character, work ethic and great problem-solving skills increases your ability to delegate successfully.
At Jarrett Logistics Systems and PackShip USA, we have achieved superior results when we first look for those foundation skills and then train employees for the task at hand. If you have the driven, experienced employee with the right attitude and character traits, tribulation will never occur.
How to find the right people
Our highest achieving people have had to deal with adversity in some form or fashion, and they learn from it. Those people are excellent problem-solvers because they have dealt with problems in the past. The golden employees are those who have dealt with adversity in a positive way.
During an interview we will ask, “How would you describe your character using values, integrity and honesty, and why do you describe yourself that way?” This helps us get to know the person based on their personality and helps us determine if they are a good fit for our company.
Making sure you have the right person in the right position is key. Have the courage to change that person’s position if you discover that person is in the wrong position after hiring him or her.
What character traits should I look for?
Values influence every step a person makes. You want someone who has an entrepreneurial spirit, character, respect and strives for excellence. Honesty and integrity create trust, which is a cornerstone of our business and is the main trait we search for.
With the right people in the right positions, the right foundation skills and the right training, our business grows. These employees will be more likely to bring ideas to the table, initiate creative and innovative ways to serve our customers and focus on the customers’ happiness. All are important to our company’s success and growth.
In a study conduced by Mark Murphy, author of “Hiring for Attitude,” statistics showed that of 20,000 new hires, almost half failed within the first 1½ years on the job. And 89 percent of these failures were the result of attitude.
“The attitudinal deficits that doomed these failed hires included a lack of coachability, low levels of emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament,” Murphy said. “Virtually every job has tests that can assess technical proficiency. But what those tests don’t assess is attitude.”
Employing people with the same core foundations as your company creates a hardworking person who understands your business and its customers. Those are the folks that can make things happen for you every day. ●
Michael Jarrett is founder and president of Jarrett Logistics Systems and PackShip USA. Both of Jarrett’s companies have won numerous awards, including the Weatherhead 100, Cascade Capital Growth Award, Inc. 500/5000, The Entrepreneurial Edge Award and NEO Success Award. Reach him at [email protected].
Connect with Jarrett on LinkedIn or visit www.jarrettlogistics.com for more information.
