Are you EAGER?

As a hiring manager potential candidates that want to work for our company ask me “What are you looking for in an employee?”  I have written about this subject a lot, but I have narrowed it down to something that is easy to remember and illustrates exactly what we are looking for when we hire someone.

We are looking for people who are EAGER.  The dictionary describes EAGER a few different ways, but the definition I like best is “very excited and interested: feeling a strong and impatient desire to do something or for something.”

I love acronyms (because it makes it easy to remember) what does an EAGER person who has a strong desire to do something and is very excited and interested look like?

They are:

E  ngaged:  We all know when people get engaged they are committing to each other that they plan on being together and taking the next steps to marriage.  An engaged employee is committed.  That means they are committed to being in the relationship between themselves and the company.  What this should mean is that they will do no harm, speak no harm, be fully committed 100% to the success of the company, and care about where it is going and their involvement in that direction. Sounds kind of like a marriage doesn’t it?

A ction Oriented: An employee that is eager is without a doubt action oriented.  They not only talk, but they put up.  They talk the talk and walk the walk.  They get things done.  They push things forward.  A person who is action oriented looks at a situation and then develops a plan to take action and follows through.

G  oal Oriented:  A person who is eager realizes to be excited and passionate they must set goals and have a desire to achieve those goals.  The kinds of goals they set are personal goals, health goals, and career goals.  Show me a person who isn’t eager and I will show you a person with no goals.  Goals push us to be more so we can become more and accomplish more.  Some people wish for things, and while those people are wishing, the people who are goal oriented and action oriented are achieving.

E  xcellence:  If you are looking to work with my team, you must get up every day and pursue excellence.  Excellence means you are not merely trying to do the minimal, you are trying to do more.  Average people do average work, talk about average things, and watch the clock, keep track of their hours, and count the days.  The ones who pursue excellence look at each day and say, I won’t stop until I accomplish what needs to be accomplished to push us forward and achieve our goals.

R  esourceful:   I love the definition of resourceful on the web. def:  having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.  WOW!  These are the people I want to be around. Resourceful people find ways to get things done, they don’t complain about the wind, the weather, or give all of the excuses, they find a way to make things happen.  And I like how the definition of resourceful states that they find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. Which means these people are solution finders and not fault finders.  WHOA!  Fault finders is a blog topic all within itself.

So are you EAGER?  Please share with me your insights!  What does EAGER look like to you?

Brian Willett