The Hidden Skills in Your Most Reliable People

When you need something done — and done right — you probably know who you can count on. Even at work, most people have someone they can call on at a moment’s notice.

If you gave your team a basic personality test, the reliable people would probably score high in conscientiousness, one of the five basic personality dimensions.It reflects how organized, disciplined, thorough, and careful someone tends to be. Starting in the 1990′s, organizational research has found that people displaying these traits tend to succeed in management roles.

Here are three suggestions for keeping a closer eye on your conscientious employees, and helping develop their critical hidden skills:

• Keep track of assignments. Make sure that you’re not loading them up with extra tasks just because you know that they’ll do them. 
• Reward them. Give them time to work on projects they value personally. The autonomy and appreciation strengthens their bond to the company and increases the chances they’ll stick around. 
• Watch them closely. You know you can take the hands-off approach with conscientious employees, but closely observing their work will give them a chance to display their strengths. 

Remember: Don’t rush anyone into management based on how conscientious they are, which is fairly easy to see. Some of the other abilities may be harder to observe. Give yourself a little more time to get to know what people can do well. This way, you’ll allow them to not only demonstrate how reliable they are, but all the ways they can contribute to your company.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/03/the-hidden-skills-in-your-most/