What Do Bosses Look For?

[Metal Head]

Hi,

I didn't know if this thread should go into the Employment forum - I suppose if it should have then a moderator will do it.

What I was wanting to find out is what do managers/CEO/Supervisors look for in potential employees? You read that it's the experience, attitude, good time keeping etc but is what are the major positives and negatives that you have looked upon in either keeping someone or giving them the push?

Just off that point, I presently find myself in a dilemma. In that I started a new job a few weeks ago but I am starting to get disillusioned that the guy I have been "buddied" up with doesn't give a s0.t about the place and I feel as a result I am not learning as much (and as quickly) as I should be. Thus I wonder when the 3 months probation period is up, I will be given the push? Should I tell the manager (who thinks the sun shines out this guys ----) of my concerns or just go with the flow? I was in a similar postion 2 jobs ago and I went to the boss who didn't want to know but told my buddie, who in turn gave me s85t until I left.

Thanking those in advance of their replies.

MH

[rodm]

That's what they call being between a rock and a hard place.

You learnt what happened last time so don't repeat the same. The boss should be aware of his staff work ethics already so any comment from you is just going to look bad for you. If he is not aware then comments from you will not carry much weight anyway and it could be viewed as you trying to put him down to make yourself look better. There will be an opportunity to address all this down the track.

Just get in and do a decent job and don't be influenced by the fellow you are teamed up with and who knows he might lift his game also. By that I mean if he sits down every half hour for chat or a break then don't join him. Be positive when he is negative and do the best you can with the knowledge and skills you have got. At the end of your probation the boss is going to ask your partner for an opinion on your work so keep things amiable by not letting this fellow get under your skin.

What a boss looks for today is to make a profit out of your time and for you to be low maintenance on his time.

[manoftalent]

I look for someone who is going to use common sense, if no experiance, or education, then common sense should prevail, time and time again, I tell my workers that the job entails using what God gave them, a brain...the work requires 60% of thought and 40% of action, any other way is the hard way, and the thing that gets me is the stupid blank look, that tells me you have no mind on the job at hand and not keen to learn anything about it, every employer has a honeymoon period with someone new, and it costs money to "break someone in" the quicker they adapt the better it is for the company and more cost effective and productive, yes you are going to make mistakes I tell them, and I expect you to learn from them the first time...
I expect honesty and freely give it in return.
I expect the workstation to be left in an orderly manner even if it is knockoff time, its up to you to be efficient.
your attitude should be to get the job done to the best of your ability, if any other thought occupies your mind ......dont bother coming to work.

these are some of my likes and dislikes ...but then again, I am patient and if someone shows promise, i tend to "forget" about the trial period....more often or not the individual ends up being an asset more than a liability ...not everyone is the same and some take longer than others to mold into shape ...thats life

[autogenous]

Learn to listen

Get rid of any rock star attitude. You haven't gone platinum yet if your 16

Ask if you did not understand an instruction or having trouble with a task.
(There is big culture issues in many industries with that statement. People are being injured through lack of knowledge because many employees don't ask or don't know who to ask.)

Many bosses know their job well but are poor teachers.

Do not tell your buddy/mentor how to do his job. The situation may not be how it seems.

Many fellas wont have the conflict resolutions skills to deal with your statement.

The boss will know what hes like. If the organisation hasn't a grasp on things then it will be a god send you move on.

I will be given the push?

At that point, right there and then, in a very civil tone explain your feelings on the matter without mentioning any names.

eg: I feel that the person I was placed with as mentor was not suited.
Thank you for the opportunity and shake hands.

And for heaven sake don't wear you blue tooth phone in your ear and take 4 personal calls in an interview.

[Groggy]

Good attitude. Employers can teach people just about anything except a good attitude.

[wheelinround]

Now we are assuming he is talking about honest bosses
90% of the rest look for cheap wage structure and dim wits
the others look for long legs and blond hair.

[Jim Carroll]

Show plenty of inititve.

If the floor looks like it could do with sweeping do it without asking, dont wait to be told what to do as there is always things to be done.


The mentor may just be passing on the same attitude you are passing onto him, he may think this guy is a waste of time i wont put too much effort in.

Then again you could be right, some people can do their job great but are no good as teachers.

[Sebastiaan56]

I look for honesty, BS me once and I'll lay down the law. Do it again and you are out of here. That applies especially to relationships with my customers. I am also after team players "its not my job" will get you the heave ho, as will an "I know best", if you really do, it will show in your work.

[glock40sw]

Be on time...all the time.

Do as instructed but also think ahead.

If something is not working right, let someone know.

Be on time... all the time

Help your other workmates. Don't stand around doing nothing if the bloke next to you is snowed under. Give him a hand.

Be willing to learn.

Be on time...All the time.

If the machines are stopped for any reason, grab a broom and clean up. Keep busy. Don't stand around yarning.

Did I mention Being on time...all the time???

[rod@plasterbrok]

We have 4 main criteria when looking for new contactors.
In this order of importance.

Attitude: Without a good attitude everything else is worthless. The best plasterer in Melbourne with a bad attitude can cost us a client. With a good attitude jobs run smooth, mistakes are corrected without fuss (no one is perfect).

Reiliability: If a contractor is not reliable we loose clients and work is to hard to plan ahead.

Quality: Must be able to produce work at a high standard.

Quantity: Must be able to do a job in a reasonable time frame.

When we interview prospective contractors both myself and my partner conduct the interview, normally on the site where they are working. We are both looking for the above traits. You would be surprised at how often we walk from an interview in the first 5 minutes due to failure on attitude.

In fact attitude is what we look for when deceiding who to interview. Most fail over the phone!

Cheers Rod

[bbe]

I am with Sebastian56 on this one. I rate honesty so highly. I like to think that being honest with all my previous jobs was the reason I held senior positions at a young age. Some people will say that being honest and open can get you unstuck or other employees will use it against you but don't worry. If you implicitly know the difference between right and wrong and choose the right (honest) way then you will have integrity beyond your years. Choose the wrong path, knowingly, you are sociopath in my books.

I write this reply only because I 'headhunted' a guy a month ago to start working with us. He cost a pretty fortune and was going to join us on a very fat six-figure salary. He was due to start Monday last week and called up saying he couldn't work due to 'gastro' and he needed the week off. I told him not to bother coming in. I didn't want to hire him anymore. He asked why. I said because he lied to me. I asked if he really was sick. He said no he wasn't sick; he wanted the week off. I asked why he wasn't up-front and didn't just ask for the week off. He said he didn't know what my reaction would be. I said it won't matter now because you won't be working for us. There is no way I was going to hire a guy that lied to me on his first day of work.......

[Metal Head]

Thank you to all those who took the time to reply to my questions - much appreciated .

Well I have just finished my first week (on nights) at my new job and I am beginning to enjoy it given that the past couple of nights I have been buddied up with a couple of smart guys. However, it does disappoint me to think that there are still quite a few collegues who are brazen about the way they go about their job given the possible consequencies of their actions. But why should I worry when the managers appear not to be bothered. Someone said it had bothered them when they started a few months ago but they just got their head down as they couldn't do anything to change the situation. I suppose I will just take his advice about those things and just concentrate on my own work or the $42 per hour I am getting or on Monday ($100).

Cheers
MH

[elkangorito]

I believe that there are 2 issues here.

1] What do you expect from the employer &
2] What does your employer expect from you.

If these 2 things can marry together harmoniously, all should be ok.


Some posters here are employers & have given their points of view, varied as they are. This indicates that there is no "formula" for your question.

In my experience, big companies (corporations) tend to pay lots of "lip service" about looking after their workers when in reality, they treat you like a "number". What they tell you about their expectations of you & what you actually end up doing can be opposites.
Conversely, small companies are the exact opposite but interpersonal tensions can arise quickly & frequently. As an example, years ago I worked for a small company in Newcastle. The boss was always asking me why I wasn't married. After about the 10th time, i became annoyed & told him to "bugger off & mind his own business". Lo & behold, this became such a major issue (my marital status), I quit in a huff. I believe that this was an uncommon & extreme situation but now, I always try to distance myself from co-workers (& bosses).

About telling the "truth" - sadly, the "truth" is something that nobody wants to listen to. On one occasion, my immediate supervisor (manager) asked me to do something illegal (change some numbers in a spreadsheet to trick my client about tax & real costs). I told him that this was illegal & I wouldn't do it. From that point on, he made my life miserable. He later did some other underhanded things, which myself & others believed would ultimately make our jobs very difficult & be detrimental for our clients. Eventually, I took this information to the owner of the company, with whom I had a very good relationship. He was an older gentleman & believed in the same things as myself - honesty, integrity, trust & self respect makes a good employee/employer.
To my shock & horror, my trusted boss took sides with my cheating manager & made me out to be the one who was cheating. I resigned immediately.

I will always tell the truth no matter what the consequences could be. This experience provides me with an explanation of why some employees "don't give a $hit"...maybe it's happened to them?

Now that my little rant is over, all I can say to you is to "be yourself". If "yourself" fits what your employer is looking for, both parties will be happy. Do not "manufacture" a personality for your working life. This is a lie & you will end up being a nutcase. Also, if your employer is the type that just expects you to absolutely "follow orders" & not think, you must ask yourself if this is something you can do or not do. I personally don't like employers who think like this. These people usually don't like any form of feedback & can see you as a threat or a nuisance if you genuinely try to be helpful.

[Smurf]

For me honesty and reliability are absolutely the most important.

That's closely followed by productivity - but I'd rather have a slow, reliable and honest worker than a fast, unreliable and dishonest one. Being a bit slow is somthing that can be addressed through training, sorting out whatever motivational issues may exist etc provided that the employee is reliable, honest and willing to talk openly.

But you can't change dishonesty and unreliability - they are fundamental characteristics of an individual.

Greatest asset you can have in a workplace, especially a small one, is trust in my view. Requires a lot of effort to convince employees that they can actually trust their supervisor but well worth the effort.

[Smurf]

Also, if your employer is the type that just expects you to absolutely "follow orders" & not think, you must ask yourself if this is something you can do or not do. I personally don't like employers who think like this. These people usually don't like any form of feedback & can see you as a threat or a nuisance if you genuinely try to be helpful.

Bosses like that haven't worked out how much it is costing them. Either that or they are duds themselves who don't care anyway.

As for me, I go out of my way to actively encourage feedback both positive and negative. Smurf's rule is pretty simple - say anything you like I will NOT take offence or seek revenge.

It took a while to convince the workers but I was, in a strange kind of way, actually very pleased when someone (age 22) walked into my office, shut the door, sat in the chair and put their feet up on the desk. It might seem strange but I was actually very happy that they felt safe enough to do that.

And the benefit? Easiest way to explain is to say what the issue was. Productivity. They wanted more of it, had worked out how and were't giving up until I made it happen. Can't complain about workers like that...