You can be the best in your trade. You can be unstoppable. You can be a fearless risk-taker. And, you can be exquisitely talented at what you do. But when it comes to the world of business, you are no island. You can be great at everything but you cannot run an entire business by yourself – especially when you’ve got big plans for the future.
And so, you will need people.
However, finding good help can be difficult in recent years. Some will leave you hanging; others will take advantage of you. And many people fall short of what they’ve promised to bring you and your company. This really makes it harder to trust anyone anymore. People say first impressions last. I say first impressions easily disappoint. People can present the best version of themselves during interviews and fail to live up to it.
Really, good help is hardly available anymore.
However, don’t lose faith in all of humanity just yet. Good help may be scarce but it’s not nonexistent. In every 100 people out there, there’s bound to be at least one good soul – right? I’m not trying to say you should distrust every person you meet. It’s just that, the majority of people succumb to temptation when they get too comfortable. Only very few can rise above their earthly themselves and do what’s right over what’s beneficial for them.
If you’re lucky enough, you’ll get the opportunity to meet one of these chosen few. And when you do, don’t you let your bedrock fall beyond your reach.
4 Signs You’ve Found Your Company’s Bedrock
Beneath the superficial surface of the earth – the plant life, soil, and rocks – lay bedrocks. This bedrock is compact and solid, hard to tamper with, and very difficult to break. It holds everything up together. It’s the foundation that keeps all that is above it afloat.
If you, as the company owner and/or CEO, are the bulldozer that treads the path for your company to take, then you need a “bedrock” that would hold everything you carry with you in place. And here are four signs that can tell you that you’ve found yourself a keeper:
Responsibility is more than just meeting deadlines or keeping tasks at bay. It is something that comes with the trust employers grant employees with.
If an employee makes himself accountable for all his actions – good and bad – then he’s a real gem. Bragging about one’s success is least commendable compared to owning up to one’s mistakes. If an employee is able to confront you when something’s amiss, holds himself liable for consequences that result from his own miscalculations and wrong judgments, then that should be enough to tell you that he (or she) is a really responsible individual.
Some people would desperately cover up their mishaps, some would even point fingers at others. But someone who is willing to assume responsibility for his or her own mistakes is someone truly responsible.
No company can exist in harmony (or exist at all) if its foundation is filled with lies and cheats. Forget about prospering or growing, simply keeping your company running would be downright impossible when you’re surrounded by dishonest people.
Even just having one honest individual work for you is worth more than 10 – or even 20 – dishonest employees.
The temptation is practically knocking at every door when you’re at work. If you willed to, you can grab many chances and benefit your own interests. However, a true bedrock is able to transcend this very fragile and hideous part of being human and instead works to help your company achieve greater heights.
Some employees look promising at the beginning but end up as disappointments after things begin to feel comfortable. Usually, newly hired employees put on their best behavior on the first six (6) months of employment. These first few months, after all, are similar to a trial period. And employers are free to terminate their services if they’re deemed to be unfit for their positions during this given time – no strings attached.
But things can get very different the moment an employee gets regularized. And you get penalized every day because of one wrong hiring decision. These types of employees are no bedrocks – if anything, they’re like soil erosion. They destroy everything that you’ve managed to grow from the bottom up.
However, when an employee is consistent, delivering what is expected of him (and sometimes even more) from the time of his employment to several years down the road, then he is as stable a bedrock as any other.
When you’ve found yourself someone who performs consistently without fail, then you know where his loyalty ones. Consistent employees are those who uphold the ideals of the company – and they plan to keep it that way for a long, long time.
A true bedrock grows with the company. He is a learner, an inquisitive wanderer who searches for answers to satisfy his curiosity. He knows that by standing still, he will get left behind. And so he decides to move with the company.
A bedrock – a literal bedrock – stays rooted to its place. And although unable to just up and leave, it can grow – deeper and wider than it ever was before! Same goes for great employees. They remain rooted and humble, yet move towards the direction of progress.
I’ve once read in a Chicago SEO article, that looking for the right bedrock is crucial for companies – especially online. After all, in the online world, there is no such thing as common ground. People from all places around the globe gather and exchange their expertise and knowledge. A platform like this needs a bedrock like no other. A unique, bedrock that can help you hold your company on top of everything – even when there’s no dirt, even when there is no surface.
A bedrock like this is a keeper – don’t let it break.