7 Habits of Highly Effective Employees

Have you ever wondered what differentiates a top performer from the rest? Or how you can fast track your career? Then you probably want to look beyond your work experience and education.

To support company growth and employee development, we conducted an internal study to identify key traits of top performing employees at our company, iQuanti, Inc. Our sample pool included people from different teams and different roles. In our interview with them, we asked:

- What makes you get up and come to work?

- What makes your day/makes you happy?

- Why do you put in the extra effort?

- Why do you care about your work?

- What do you like about working here?

As expected, their answers showed some patterns and commonalities. Surprisingly, it wasn’t inherent intelligence, fancy degrees, or past work experience that made them top performers. Can you take a guess at what it was? You probably hit the nail on the head: it was their set of core values that made them stand out above the rest.

Here were the most commonly shared traits:

1. Look at the big picture

Before taking up a task, they try to understand the purpose or the end goal. They seek answers to some basic questions surrounding the thought process behind performing an activity or the end goal they’d want to achieve.

2. Be the go-to person

Top performers conduct their own research and spend more time reading about the business, customers and industry/domain than everyone else. They like to be known as Subject Matter Experts (SME) or the ‘go to person’ in their domain.

3. Always do your best

They generally hold themselves to high standards, which shows in their work. They don’t just think about finishing a task, they want to do the best job possible. As a result, their deliverables have a trademark quality and are client ready more often than not.

4. Go above and beyond

They’re never shy about going above and beyond and are happy to do more than what they are asked of if it will help achieve the goal. They enjoy being entrusted with responsibility and ownership to deliver well.

5. Don’t break your word

They follow through their commitment and just don’t know any other way. If they commit to doing something at a particular time, they just do it. In rare cases when they aren’t able to deliver on their commitment, they let the concerned person know well in advance.

6. Think win-win

Like all employees, they want the company to reward them highly. But in return, they also want the company/clients to benefit from them and they try to add value in every way they can. They have a sense of ownership and connect with the company; the feeling of ‘Our Company’.

7. Focus on strengths

This quote from iQuanti’s CEO, Viswanatha Sastry Rachakonda, sums it up best. “Work actively to identify things you can be great at and work on them. Addressing your weakness will make you good, focusing on your strengths will make you great.”

While these seven tips may seem small and simple, embodying them can help you become an indispensable member of your organization.