Employees are a company’s greatest asset, and companies would like to attract and retain the best people. Though a majority of employees generally perform well, a percentage of employees are usually “high performers” and organizations really value and respect their contributions and go extra miles to keep them happy and retain them.
It would be interesting to look at some qualities of high performing employees, and what they do differently from others that set them apart.
1) Self Motivated: High performing employees are usually highly self-motivated people. They are self driven, perseverant, focused and disciplined in their work. They set their own targets to meet the performance expectations set for them, and constantly exceed the expectations. They generally don’t need any external motivation or praise to perform well.
2) Highly competent: High performers are people who are highly competent and possess the necessary skills needed for a job. In other words, they are people who are the best fit for the job.
3) Take Ownership: High performers take ownership of their work. High performers know exactly what is expected of them, and go all out to perform them. They take responsibility of their work, and do not find excuses for non-performance, but instead, they are pro-active and ensure that have the necessary skills (by undergoing training if needed) and tools to perform their job efficiently.
4) Team players: Though individual contribution matters a lot, being a team player and working together as a team would be important to achieve organization goals. High performing employees are good team players.
5) Dynamic and Adaptable: High performers are dynamic individuals and adapt easily as situation demands. They are quick learners and are always up-to-date with the latest happenings in their industry and acquire knowledge needed for their work.
6) Good communicators: High performing employees are usually good communicators. They possess very good listening skills to understand their performance expectations. They also have good oral communication skills, to put forth their ideas.
I think all employees strive to be high performers, no doubt. For achieving it, they would have to have the constant energy and self-drive and willing to go the extra mile! That will make them from being just good, to being the best.
There are several articles which talk about traits of successful people. You might be interested to see these:
http://elitedaily.com/money/entrepreneurship/10-traits-extremely-successful-people/
