7 Things Tom Does NOT Want in an Employee!

#1) BAD ATTITUDE. This is my number one ‘absolutely not!’. You can do many things in terms of molding people and guiding them through whatever systems you have in place to run your business. If they have a bad attitude however, all hope is lost. People are generally wired a certain way. If they have a bad attitude or negative outlook on life, they will do us totally no good. Perhaps attitudes can be overshadowed by how well people do the job they are hired to do from a skill perspective in many cases and at many companies – just NOT at this one.

#2) BAD WORK ETHIC. This item is right behind #1 above. It is conceivable that some people looking for employment have never had the privilege of being around someone with an impeccable work ethic and thus have no idea what it really means to work hard. I can appreciate that but it is going to be awful challenging to keep up with our employees if you do not have a proper work ethic. Our people in the field will eat someone like this for breakfast. They are tremendously hard working and will not stand for someone who does not put forth the effort of others around them – regardless of skill level.

#3) I DONT WANT A SLOB. Yes, I said it, we cannot have slobs working with us. Due to the nature of what we do, we are consistently in very public and private places. We cannot work with someone who does not properly professionally prepare themselves or their work areas or does not clean up after themselves after a long day. Our employees are expected to dress and act neat as they are representing themselves and our company at all times. Disorganized and disheveled individuals will be a ridiculous burden to have on staff and if you are thinking of working with us but have no idea how to be clean, professional, and organized – even on a personal level – we are probably not the right fit for each other.

#4) SELFISHNESS. “I cleaned my area, I’m outta here!.” That’s great jackwagon but we play a team sport around these parts. We have no time for selfish individuals. If you finish what may be termed “your tasks” early and are awaiting others to finish theirs, we do NOT need people who are NOT willing to jump in and help their fellow employees. We take this to another level at our company as we constantly are involved within our local community and our employees are expected to do the same. We participate in a variety of events throughout the year in our community and we believe it necessary for our employees to volunteer their time and help out in at least two of them. If you do not find this necessary, that is tremendous! Please stop reading this ad right now.

#5) A THIEF. There are many things that we are willing to work with people on in terms of things that may have happened in their past which they are not too proud of. Being a thief is not one of them. Our clients put an awful lot of trust in us to make sure that only trustworthy people are allowed around their property working on their projects. While I openly acknowledge that everybody has an individual situation that has to be evaluated on a per applicant basis, if you have been convicted of larceny in 3 out of the last 4 years, it is going to be really difficult to convince me that you should be working with us on a bedroom project around someone’s crown jewels; just sayin’…

#6) A MERCENARY FOR HIRE. We look at mercenaries for hire as trade workers who could care less about the actual company that they are working for and have absolutely no allegiance to anybody whatsoever. These types of individuals typically may work for a new company on almost a yearly basis (changing after every winter) and even have been known to alternate in between 2 or 3 different companies over a period of time. Every year, whoever is willing to pay them the most, whether the smallest, most unprofessional, schmuck-in-the-truck operation or the most professional company in the history of their industry, it makes no difference to this person. Above all else, cash rules and if they are able to be paid in green – even BETTER. That outlook on employment does not fly here. If you are NOT someone looking for a stable, long term position with a company that truly does strive to do things the right way, you are NOT for us.

#7) A NONCONFORMIST. Someone who does not like to follow rules, does not like to work within systems, or likes to roam to the beat of their own drum will NOT work out with us. Don’t get me wrong. Our employees actually help create the rules of our company. The trick is that as our rules have been established over time, they have been expected to be followed. If you are someone with the thought process of it does not matter when you come in or when you leave as long as you get the job done, that’s not going to quite work out over here. We are constantly in the process of creating new systems and tweaking ones in place that have already been in existence. If you are not someone that can help us with this type of situation and would typically do what you have always done instead of working within our systems and processes and helping us to improve them, you are NOT who I am looking for.

Sooooo…that’s my laundry list of what I do not want and cannot stand. Now comes the difficult part. I feel kind of strange explaining what I DO want in an employee. On one hand, if I get too detailed it may seem like I am some insensitive, out-of-touch elitist who is living in some type of dream world in terms of what he wants in an ‘ideal’ employee.

On the other hand, I am positive that if I don’t set some parameters, this ad will be answered by many looking for employment with whom we are not at all well-suited for.

With this being said, please relax a bit. What I am about to present is not set in stone and I am not as stringent in reality as it may seem in print.

Anyhoo, here I go…

My idea of the ‘ideal’ employee is someone who is SUPER positive. The glass is ALWAYS half-full where they are coming from. They approach each project with the vigor and determination of doing things correctly and although they may come across frustrating situations, they have the wherewithal to stay focused and correctly complete the task at hand.