The difference between a good employee, a bad employee, and a great employee.
Over the course of the past 15 years I have managed quite a few people. Some people are excellent employees and are a joy to work with, and others can drain your energy. I believe that everyone wants to… or at least should want to be a great employee. Here is a simple story to illustrate some of the basic differences between 3 types of employees. This story starts out with a simple set of request from Boss to employee:
Request from Boss to each of Three employees:
Boss: “Here is a list 10 things I’d like you do do.”
#1) Good employee to Boss: (a few days later:): Hi boss, I got those 10 things done. What else would you like me to work on?
#2) Boss to BAD employee: (more than a few days later):
Boss: Hey, did you get a chance to get that list finished?
Bad Employee: Oh yeah, I got 5 of them done but I couldn’t get to #6, #7, #8 because I couldn’t (find something/ reach someone/ didn’t know how).
Boss: Ok, when were you going to tell me? And what about #9 & #10
Bad Employee: I was waiting for you to ask me…er, ah…so I could find you. Oh, and what were #9 & #10 again? I forgot about those.
#3) Great Employee (a short time later)
Employee to Boss: Hey boss, you know that list you gave me yesterday, would now be a good time for me to give you an update?
Boss: Yes, please go ahead.
Employee: I got #1-#8 done, they were easy. And while I was doing #8 I realized that we also needed to do #11 & #12 so I just went ahead and did them. And for #9, I found that if we do this (#13) we can avoid ever having to do #10 again. Would it be ok with you if we did #13 so we can save this time and money in the future.
Boss: Yes, please go ahead. And keep up the good work. You are doing a great job!
The summary:
A good employee will keep track of what is asked of them in their own personal productivity system and return and report on what is asked of them and then inquire what else should be done. They will do this without having to be asked, and reminded multiple times.
A bad employee will often lose track of or forget key details of what has been asked of them. They may not be proactive about reporting on the progress of what they have done. And they may not be able to figure out something that they have never done before or requires even a bit of stretching beyond their original instructions.
A great employee will keep track of what has been asked of them. They will write down the verbal assignments given to them and track them, even better than the boss tracks the items. A great employee will do the items that really need to be done, and do them quickly. A great employee will also look for reasons why something doesn’t need to be done, or could be done better or different. In those cases they will take quick action and make it happen. If you are an employee who wants to be “great, then please know that you are expected to take initiative and to fill in the gaps.
Rarely, (probably never) is an employee going to excel in a position based 100% only on what was “told” to them, or assigned to them in the beginning or at the orientation training. To really be a great employee you need to fill in the gaps between what has been asked of you, and what is really needed.
Caveat, The advice presented here may take a bit of trust building if you are new in a role. I would not recommend jumping into a new position on day 1 and telling your boss that things should be changed or done differently. Make sure you really understand how things were working, or are supposed to work before you start taking that type of initiative. If you are early in a position, or still developing a level of trust with your boss, then you may want to ask them for permission before you start changing things. If your boss values innovation and initiative, then they should appreciate it. And, if your boss is a bit controlling and obsessive (some of them are ;) you might want to at least ask for permission before making big changes.