More and more, employers are having a hard time finding polished, professional employees who understand how to handle themselves well in the workplace. They may complete their tasks on time, have extraordinary talent or skill for their work, but they don’t behave professionally. They may be too direct with a supervisor and not as respectful as they should be. They ask for too much, they are too laid-back, they don’t know how to interact professionally with clients or they don’t seem to have a filter to know what is inappropriate at work. If this sounds familiar in your workplace, please know you are not alone. Here are three tips to help ensure your employees are professional.
[See: 8 Ways Millennials Can Build Leadership Skills.]
Pre-hire: Ask the right questions when you are hiring. Professional polish is a combination of soft skills that make an employee more valuable. The required soft skills vary depending on the industry, the corporate culture and the employee’s role in the organization, but there are some basics as well, including being punctual, knowing how to work effectively on a team, having time-management skills, being able to communicate effectively with your co-workers and clients, and knowing how to behave at a professional meal. Sometimes employers focus so much on finding someone qualified for a position that they don’t ask the right questions to make sure the employee has the right soft skills. It is important to identify the top three soft skills in addition to the hard skills and experience that an ideal employee for the job should have. If an employee will be dealing with clients, will he or she know how to be professional yet friendly over the phone, or would his or her personality scare away potential clients? At the interview stage, try questions like: “When do you feel the most productive?” or “What has been the most difficult project you’ve worked on?” or “What inspires you to go to work every day?” The answers will help you get a feel for the candidate’s personality and what soft skills he or she can bring to the table. During the interview, notice nonverbal as well as verbal communication to get a sense of how the candidate conducts himself or herself. If it’s not a fit, move on to the next candidate.
[See: 10 Things They Don’t Tell You About Your First Job.]
Post-hire: Help your employees become more self-aware. If you already have an employee who has the top three soft skills that you want, great. Help him or her develop the other soft skills needed to succeed at your company, whether it be through a workshop or conference or with the help of a mentor from your organization. If the employee does not have the soft skills required, you need to ask yourself, based on his or her personality and performance, if those skills can be developed. If needed, get some feedback from your human resources department or others on your leadership team. Ask for help and input. One first step to rectifying the situation can be to require all employees to take a personality or career assessment. This will help them learn more about themselves and their strengths as well as what they need to work on, and it will help you identify other team members who may be able to help them. Go over the results with the employee, and from there, help him or her set two to three goals for the next two months. Develop a plan together for how to tackle the issues, and provide the employee with the support or tools needed to do so. Set a date to review the results.
[See: 10 Things New Grads Can Do Right Now to Get a Job.]
Create an ongoing process to help employees improve. A one-time test generally isn’t enough to help employees become more polished. Remember that an employee is a long-term investment that needs long-term care. This could mean starting with an assessment you will commit to use with your team, like the StrengthsFinder assessment, followed by a series of check-ins with employees that focus on soft skills. Every time you have a performance review, build that into the agenda. If needed, you can have him or her shadow more experienced employees at certain times or become a part of a mentoring program. Decide what would work best with your culture and for this employee’s role, but it is important to have a program in place and set the intention for a positive impact. Make sure your employees know that your program is designed to help them become better employees and more successful in their careers, and that it won’t be used as a measuring stick to grade them. If it’s not working or the employee is unwilling to grow and improve, it may be time to consider whether he or she is a fit in the long run. But in the meantime, if you are implementing an improvement program, give employees the tools and best chances to improve.
More from U.S. News
The 10 Most Common Interview Questions
Don’t Be That Guy (or Gal): 8 Networking Turn-Offs
How to Help Your Employees Be More Professional originally appeared on usnews.com
