The Best You've Ever Had.

You fired them, or they moved on, or they were cut due to budget restrictions, or maybe you saw the potential that you could not contain and therefore let them fly, a noble ending to a company admitting they cannot supply what the person needs. 

The qualities of an ideal employee, not as easy as determining who is the hardest worker, but in the subtleties of the person. First, the person whom you might see working late, seems well-liked, appears to have all the answers, never appears out of sorts; on paper, and in interview, this may appear to be THE person, but they aren’t. They are most likely the same person you will grow to dislike or form some sort of disconnect with over time with. They aren’t real enough, they appear to be balanced, and you can’t quite put your finger on it, but something is just enough "off," but yet identifiable to the point, an employer might think its them. 

It isn’t. 

Its that employee, to no fault of their own mind you. The person you see, their characteristics, the truth in how they present, or not what they present, telling, more than anything on paper could quantify. Sure, there are personality tests these days that can determine a, “best fit” person, an outgoing person for marketing, an introvert for writing, underwriting, or IT jobs. Sure, that seems all fine and dandy except when you meet and work with the person for a few years, only to realize that what you thought was the most ideal person, turned out to be your greatest nightmare. 

Getting angry is, "OK." After all, we are all on the same team, which involves options that might not agree. 

What I am referring to here is the employee who, PRESENTED without any authenticity. The people pleasing, the finding value in hard work and therefore reward, the inability to make any intimate connections with fellow employees or the company, always seemingly disconnected, but presenting as favorable. It is annoying after all, if an employer is invested in the growth and longevity of the company that is. If simply hiring the person was "enough," then any degree-carrying graduate is capable of filling the spot. For if this is as good as the company is, than this person will get that slot filled, job done, or better yet, excel, for a while, until the next favorable thing comes along. 

No, the best employee stands their ground, telling you what they think, presenting all parts of them, yes, even those you don’t like or agree with. No matter the value differences or ways to approach a situation, it is the underlying qualities that can be formed into the company's values that makes them an asset in this time of malleable individuals looking to please because they simply want a job; all the while, looking for the next best thing to satisfy their fragile selves. The ones who are honest and authentic, they are the keepers. Yea, they might break a rule, have to be talked to, but they will give you what cannot be taught in school, or made employees into, no matter how much you invest in them. They give you truth, all of it, unfiltered. Like I said, they will be the BEST, not most IDEAL. For IDEAL means submission in a lot of cases, something inefficient for longevity.  

"Look Linda, we have to budget the accounts."
"Michael, we have to set the budget first. "

This quality can and will be a nuisance that you. Something a boss, will have to see the benefit in, therefore see the investment as well. Authenticity is not found around just any corner or just any interview process, but is found in the ones who you get the gut feeling about, something the person interviewing said or did triggering an emotion; inquiring as to their reasoning says more about WHAT they did, than the external response. That is what you are going to get, and I believe is more enriching than the, "yes-man." 

Written for employers as an idea to grow, efficiently, looking for the candidate to help expand, grow, not always the most, "favorable" but they are real. However in my own self-promotion, I have written a book, regarding Body Image disorders, which many employees might deal with, sold HERE.