Employees, Managers, Supervisors, Coworkers

[#@&5&49]

What makes for a good employee, manager, or coworker? What characteristics do you look for when hiring employees? What characteristics do you look for in a manager/supervisor/boss? What characteristics do you look for in coworkers?

 

[Gaze]

What characteristics do you look for in a manager/supervisor/boss?
- Someone who is clear, fair, knows what they're doing, considers employees, but provides helpful guidance.
- Provides clear guidelines and instructions for what they expect but permits room for employees to express their unique talents, creative ideas, and allows some independence.

What characteristics do you look for in coworkers?
- Easy to work with, responsible, accountable, openness, willing to assist if another coworker needs help, etc.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

***Good worker qualities folow***

1. An ability to understand - ie. a flexible mind. Some people have such rigid minds (usually from pride) that no matter how much you try to explain something specific, they will never be able to deliver what is expected, because they have their own notions of what needs to be done.

2. The ability to take responsibility - ie. Those who attach some personal stake in their work. This requires a certain sense of honor and not wanting to fail. Good self-esteem is an indicator that a subordinate will genuinely want to successfully conduct their work.

3. The ability to obey. This is almost a counter-quality to the ability to take responsibility, but not quite. Some people become attached to certain projects/jobs/dreams/etc. and cannot let them go - their sense of ego is too highly staked in one particular thing. It is almost a universal practice among employers/supervisors/superiors/etc. to give an employee arbitrary, pointless jobs - or take away some project they have almost completed - just to condition them in a certain kind of detachment from this or that job/role/etc.

2&3 - These balance each other out in a good employee/subordinate/etc. so that they take pride in their work and not stake themselves personally in their particular job. This is prerequisite before considering promoting anyone.

***Supervisory qualities follow***

4. Intelligence.

5. The ability to plan well: ie. intelligence applied practically. The word for this is PRUDENCE. This requires experience, which gives an understanding of both the abilities and limitations of resources (including the real human resources).

6. The ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and opportunely concerning work. You don't want to be left in the dark, nor do you want someone with verbal diarrhea, who wastes everyone's time.

7. Personal robustness / reliability. Absentee workers can never be given any responsibility.

8. The ability to maintain the respect of colleagues and subordinates. This does not mean popularity. Some managers/bosses a loved, others are feared, or hated - but they must be respected.

 

[the]

What characteristics do you look for when hiring employees?

Competence, amicable, and teachability.

What characteristics do you look for in a manager/supervisor/boss?

Treat me the way I want to be treated.

What characteristics do you look for in coworkers?

[/quote]

Friendliness and compatability.

 

[Matt3737]

Competence and diligence.

 

[Lerxst]

Supervisors/manager:

Sacrifice and compromise. Sadly, most people who would make an "extraordinary" supervisor/manager are held back by the sacrifices they have to make to conform to their boss' policies. The ones who don't do that and break through the barrier to become a great supervisor/manager quickly get fired or fed up, which makes their management traits moot. In other words - better to have at least a "good" supervisor who will stick around for a while, then a great supervisor who will be gone in a week.

 

[#@&5&49]

In general I look for initiative, good work ethic, honesty, responsibility, accountability, communication skills, conscientious, willingness to learn and improve, and a positive attitude. Then I have more specific characteristics that I look for within each group.

Employees; compatibility within the group and working environment, knowledge and interest in the work, are they capable of doing the job
Managers; organizational skills, people skills, leadership skills
Co-workers; team attitude, ability to play nice with others

It's rare to find all of these in professional relationships so I choose the best and then work towards improving the rest.

 

[acd]

I'm not a boss.

In a supervisor, I prefer someone who possesses both people-oriented and transformational leadership styles:

People-Oriented/Relations-Oriented Leadership

With people-oriented leadership, leaders are totally focused on organizing, supporting, and developing the people on their teams. This is a participatory style and tends to encourage good teamwork and creative collaboration. This is the opposite of task-oriented leadership.
People-oriented leaders treat everyone on the team equally. They're friendly and approachable, they pay attention to the welfare of everyone in the group, and they make themselves available whenever team members need help or advice.
The benefit of this leadership style is that people-oriented leaders create teams that everyone wants to be part of. Team members are often more productive and willing to take risks, because they know that the leader will provide support if they need it.
The downside is that some leaders can take this approach too far; they may put the development of their team above tasks or project directives.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm

Transformation leadership is often the best leadership style to use in business situations.

Transformational leaders are inspiring because they expect the best from everyone on their team as well as themselves. This leads to high productivity and engagement from everyone in their team.
The downside of transformational leadership is that while the leader's enthusiasm is passed onto the team, he or she can need to be supported by "detail people."
That's why, in many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership styles are useful. Transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while transformational leaders look after initiatives that add new value.
It's also important to use other leadership styles when necessary – this will depend on the people you're leading and the situation that you're in.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm

In co-workers, I prefer a culture in which people are friendly and laid back and cooperative. I don't like highly professional and competitive environments.