If anyone knows about turnover, it is a car dealer! The auto sales industry is notoriously bad about high turnover rates. We have found one method that helps to reduce turnover. We call it our Successful Employee Profile. This profile is taught in our new hire training process, painting a picture for new employees as to what is expected.
Successful Employee Profile
In my last post, I gave you the first three qualities in our Successful Employee Profile. These were:
- Quality #1 – Character
- Quality #2 – Servant Heart
- Quality #3 – Customer First
In todays post, I would like to give you the final three qualities that make up our Successful Employee Profile. I will tell you the same thing I tell our new hires. Different companies have their own ways of operating. These qualities may not be the most important in some companies, but for success in our company, they are critical.
Quality #4 – Learning Attitude
I think this quality is not only important for new hires, but should also top the list for a successful leader profile as well. I make sure our new hires know they need to remain humble and willing to learn from virtually anyone. We are not looking for those who already know all there is to know about our industry. We want people that recognize there is always more to learn about a job.
Hiring people with extensive experience can be beneficial in some cases, but if they think they have very little to learn, we are not interested in them. The world is changing so quickly and that means we should constantly be learning so we can keep up. Anyone not interested in that mindset can work somewhere else.
I close this segment of our training with a quote that best communicates the learning attitude:
Quality #5 – Work Ethic
If you have been in business long, you have seen the difference between those with a strong work ethic and those without. Sure, there are those rare exceptions who can excel without appearing to work too hard. Unfortunately, they are VERY rare.
For the rest of us, hard work is required if we want to excel at what we do. New hires need to be told (and shown) how much of an impact their work ethic can have on their success. They need to truly understand that talking about their wrk is not as effective as actually doing it.
I illustrate this idea with the following riddle:
Two frogs are on a lily pad and one decides to jump off.
How many are left?
After having them guess at the answer and the reasons for it, I give them the answer. There are still two frogs left on the lily pad. Deciding to jump off is not the same as actually doing it! The same is true for us…deciding to work hard is not the same as doing it!
Quality #6 – Desire To Win
The final quality in our Successful Employee profile is the desire to win. Simply put, losing in business should get under your skin. It should bother you.
I am not talking about being a sore loser. I do not want people that will try to win at any cost. I just want employees that WANT to win. They like it and they hate losing. They will work harder to win and they celebrate the win. I am not interested in hiring someone that is fine either way – win or lose.
Here is a quote I share:
I think it is important to clarify that winning is not everything. I do not want to communicate an over-emphasis on winning as the only goal. I simply want to make sure they understand that the desire to win is important. I finish with this quote:
More Effective Employees
I hope this Successful Employee Profile has been helpful to you. I encourage you to create your own for your company or team. Share it with all of your employees or team members and let them know your expectations. I think you will see positive results and longer-lasting, more effective employees.
What does a successful employee look like in your business?
Do you have a road map for your new hires to find success?
What would you add to our successful employee qualities?
Photo by Stasique/Shutterstock
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