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As an interviewer and employer of people I generally rely upon my instinct for finding the right people. A connection between the two of us is vital, after all I am going to be their manager. However, it is instinct based on my view of what a good employee should have as a skill set.

In addition to a interpersonal connection, I expect honesty, reliability, good humor and good-timekeeping. That is five of the key qualities and skills. However, the more interesting and intangible five are as follows:

Personability

I have no idea if that is a word, however it sums up what I want to convey. The person I employ must be personable, and have a good personality. Their ability to connect both with their team-members, other departments and the client is vital to their success in the role, and ours in the company. People respond best to those people who are honest, genuine and likable characters. It's the person you buy, not the product in many cases.

Diligence

Something the dictionary describes as a "constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken". You must have demonstrated in the past, and in your current position the ability to continue with a project with a dogged determination, and not allow yourself to be side-tracked or become despondent when things don't go according to plan. That is what plans are for, to deviate from, which leads me to my next of the big 10.

Flexibility

Customers and sometimes companies move the goal-posts. You have been providing your service diligently and with a smile, and somewhere along the lines, the customer changes dramatically or inconveniently how they want to work, what they want, or when they want it. The ability to grit your teeth, smile and accommodate this is vital. On the other hand, if the request isn't reasonable or possible, then lets move onto our next point;

Unbudgability

Described by the dictionary as "not moving or willing to move from a position or place: unbudging honesty; an unbudging foe". Now, whilst you want your staff to be likable, reasonable, flexible and accommodating with their clients, they also need to know how to stand up for themselves. Your company will soon start to lose money if your staff continually give into repeated requests for discount, continually changing requests within the quotation, so that it costs you more in time and materials to accommodate them. At this point, you want a staff member who can politely and doggedly point out that this will not happen and reasonably explain why.

Creativity

Linked with all of the other detailed points above, having a staff member who is able to actually think around a problem is a boon indeed. Many people are very good when you give them a task and exact instructions on how to perform it. They will carry this out perfectly and give you no issues. However, as a busy employer, you are not always going to have the time to micro-manage your staff and expect to be able to give them a specific goal and not have to spell out exactly how to get there. That is what the employee is there fore, as a specialist in their field. They know by doing it every day what will work in trying to get around a problem or come up with a new way of doing things.

In the real world, this is a wish-list of qualities. Generally in a team, you will find that some of the members have more of one of these skills than others. A good manager, however, can recognize who possesses which qualities and can get the team to mesh in such a way that they are stronger than the sum of their parts.

Learn more about this author, Lesley Rigg.
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