As an employer, you want to ensure that you have hard-working and dedicated employees that are going to help your business reach it’s long term goals. Have you had trouble in the past hiring high-quality employees? You may not be recognizing the key characteristics that can help a strong candidate stand out, as well as negative features that can eliminate them from the running. Positive features can often include being optimistic, having active listening skills, as well as having the ability to think outside the box. By recognizing these characteristics you can find the right candidate that will fit into your company work culture and help your business succeed. 

What are the top characteristics of a strong corporate executive hire?

1. Vision 

Vision is the ability to think ahead and plan the future with imagination or wisdom. Candidates that can exhibit this trait often have clear goals and have an understanding of how they are going to achieve them. Employees with a clear vision often are very passionate and can inspire others to help them achieve their desired outcomes. This is also useful in the workplace because it allows employees to see the direction your company is headed in and how they can be a key component in helping the company succeed. 

2. Track record of Success 

A great way to determine if a candidate will be successful in your open position is by looking at their previous employment history. Employees that stay at a company for prolonged periods of time show commitment to their work and the business itself. Did they achieve their company goals within their previous workplace? What achievements are they proud of and what did they accomplish in their work experience? This could also apply to their mistakes. If a problem arose what did they do to address the issue or how did they learn and grow from their mistakes? All of this can play a role in determining whether they would be successful within your team. 

3. Openness to New Ideas

When hiring a new employee there is often onboarding and new processes the employee needs to learn to be efficient in their new position. No two companies have the same processes so candidates need to be willing to try new things and push themselves to learn new software and systems. Being open to new ideas means they are more likely to work efficiently within a team setting and be collaborative towards others. Effective team leaders are often supportive of innovative ideas and are able to adapt to unseen circumstances that arise. This is very important if you work in an industry that is constantly changing. 

4. Communication and Listening Skills

Communication is key in any setting, but this especially rings true for employees in managerial roles. Employees with great communication skills can not only motivate members of your team but they can also emphasize the importance of action items in order to keep production running smoothly. They often provide information in a direct way that is digestible for coworkers as well as being helpful if they need additional information to complete their tasks. 

Managers and employees who implement listening skills are often better at resolving workplace conflicts. They can provide better customer service to clients as well as understanding their workloads better. By utilizing active listening they can make clients or employees feel like they have been heard and reduce toxic conflict. 

5. Leadership 

Whether you are looking for a manager or an executive, employees that exhibit leadership characteristics can help you employ successful team leaders that will help your team achieve optimal results. Strong leaders often demonstrate skills and qualities such as confidence, good communication, integrity, and accountability. A strong leader can bring your employees together to work toward the same mission and goals. An employee with leadership skills will utilize motivation and inspiration to empower employees and drive respect and trust in the workplace. 

6. Strategic Risk Taker 

Not every employee is going to be a risk-taker, but employees who can utilize this skill for long term success can be a huge benefit to your company. Strategic risk-takers often take the lessons of past failures and issues and utilize them to minimize the risks of repeating them forward. There are often limitless opportunities for company growth, employees who are not afraid to excel to new heights can provide informed decisions for making strategic moves.  

7. Creativity

Creativity can take many different forms in the workplace. From strategic thinking to problem-solving, employees who can provide innovative ideas and discover ways to implement them are key to company success. Creativity can also stimulate teamwork when coworkers are allowed to challenge one another and bounce ideas off of each other. Creative thinkers can also push the boundaries of your business model asking insightful questions before the customer does. They often have a broader outlook and approach which can bring new solutions to challenging situations. Candidates that exhibit creativity are often more enthusiastic about taking on change and new issues. This allows them to challenge themselves and become more flexible in the workplace. 

8. Honesty/Integrity

This may be one of the more obvious characteristics but you should always strive to find honest employees with high integrity. Integrity is the foundation on which coworkers build relationships, trust, and effective interpersonal relationships. These employees are highly ethical and own up to their mistakes. They also help reduce your risk of workplace violations and inappropriate behavior such as sexual harassment, fraud, or insider stock trading. Employees who demonstrate integrity place a high value on coworker relationships and demonstrate honor and truthfulness. 

9. Drive 

Employee drive often showcases not only how productive they will be, but how they push themselves to succeed. Ambition helps an employee grow within their career and your company. When looking for the right corporate executive you want to see potential in them growing to the next step in their career and exceed your expectations. Employees who lack ambition are unlikely to dedicate additional time to company growth or stick with the company through failures. Employees who are driven often have a purpose within the workplace and are also more likely to enjoy what they do. 

10. Upbeat and Confident

As an employer, you should always strive to provide the best workplace culture as possible. Employees who are upbeat and positive will come into work fresh and energetic to start their day, whereas workers who think negatively may burn-out easily and give up when they encounter problems. Employees who are optimistic can also help provide unique and creative ideas and overall can be more helpful to work with. Employees who are confident in their goals and abilities can often exceed expectations and provide superior service. They often add to the existing workplace culture rather than take away from it. 

It’s highly important to hire the right corporate executives the first time around. Bad hires can have a negative impact on your company culture, cost more time and resources for training and sometimes even hurt your company reputation. The right hire can cut hiring costs in half and ensure that they will be an overall good fit for the company. At PeopleSuite we have over 18 years of employee placement experience. Utilizing Our Services, we can help you discover the right candidates for your business. Connect with us today to get started!