Maintaining positivity is also important—not just in good times, but when the going gets tough. According to Richard Ruiz, president of Ruiz Sales, “The exemplary employee is an employee who never quits until the job is finished, even when it appears impossible.” These workers are also positive role models, and “try every day to provide the best quality service to the company, no matter what.”
Focusing not only on self-improvement, but also on the improvement of the company is a critical imperative for the truly exemplary employee; an awareness of the past helps guide performance in the future. “Never settle,” says SunFed’s Mandel. “Perfection is a target, not a destination. We all need to continue to do better every day for the team to achieve what we all set out to do.”
An exemplary employee is also a problem solver, not a problem spotter. Seeing obstacles as challenges and opportunities, not impediments, is vital to both short- and long-thinking.
“An exemplary employee is attracted by an organization that has high level decision makers, such as a CEO who knows the value of his/her work,” says Ruiz, and these workers “are attracted to organizations that present them with opportunities to excel, and reward them when they do so.”
One of the more obvious traits is leadership. Exemplary workers lead, they do not follow, and approach issues by taking ownership of them. “In the high-pressure, fast-paced environment in which we work,” Mandel notes, “the X factor is an entrepreneurial spirit—the ability to act as if the decision were yours and yours alone, to weigh the positives against the negatives, to vet and verify assumptions, and make decisions when necessary.”
Other characteristics range from the obvious (always show up on time) to the abstract (find the noblest aspect of the work you do and live up to it). But one that comes up again and again is mentorship—finding a guide, and also taking the time to guide fellow associates. As Salinas puts it, “A good employee learns to be exemplary from other exemplary employees, because they lead by example.”
Rewarding Top Performers
If your company is lucky enough to have one or two exemplary employees, you know how important it is to keep them. After all, if they’ve learned to lead, to solve problems, and to look for new challenges, they have more than held up their end of the bargain, and you need to find a way to retain their services.
There are multiple approaches to keeping an exemplary employee, just as there are multiple rules for becoming one. Good pay and competitive perks are good starts. “The best ways to keep outstanding employees are to make sure they’re valued, to fairly reimburse them for their time, and to give them unexpected bonuses and incentives during the year,” advises Dr. Cerfolio.
