Since the dawn of capitalism, much has been written about what staffing companies and employers look for as the most important traits in an employee.  So we thought instead of reinventing the “ideal employee” wheel, we should look at what a few subject matter experts (SME) have already said on the topic and see if anything stands out?  Accordingly, we have quoted below, three different SME articles on the subject:

“You look for three things: You look for Intelligence, you look for Energy and you look for Integrity,” Warren Buffett told Nebraska Business magazine in a 2001 interview per this CNBC article.

Jay Gould, CEO & Co-Founder of Yashi, wrote for Entrepreneur magazine, “The 3 Most Important Characteristics When Hiring at a Startup” were Curiosity, Competitiveness and Integrity.  

Jim Baum, a serial entrepreneur and investor, wrote for conceptspring, “The 5 Most Important Characteristics of a New Hire” were Enthusiasm, Integrity, Organizational fit, Intelligence, and Experience.

While intelligence and integrity stand out, the third characteristic is also semi-evident in three separate but similar words used by our three SMEs: Energy, Competitiveness and Enthusiasm.  All of these traits, whether it’s energy or enthusiasm or competitiveness, are more or less defining the same characteristic, which we have encapsulated in the word – Intensity.  More importantly, Intensity also incorporates or reflects “passion” – that other great human trait, which can be a great asset when channeled properly.  So we have, through deliberation, coalesced on what Alignstaffing believes are the 3 I’s or 3 most important characteristics of an employee: Integrity, Intelligence and Intensity.

However, as a staffing company that works with both sides of the employer-employee divide, we are committed to the 3 I’s as required characteristics of both our clients and candidates.  But it’s not something that we expect only from our clients and candidates; Integrity, Intelligence and Intensity are the foundational principles of everything that we at Alignstaffing do.  In fact, these 3 I’s are evident in our guiding principles:

• Quality of life for our staff, clients, business partners and community… demands Integrity and Intensity. 
• Commitment to delivering an exceptional experience… demands Intelligence and Intensity.
• Making our expertise a distinguishing value… demands Integrity and Intelligence.
• Making the complex simple… demands Integrity, Intelligence and Intensity.

Even as a staffing company, our overarching mission is “to reduce the impact of persistent poverty on underserved communities by removing barriers, so members can contribute and lead in the broader society, and the next generation can invest in themselves.”  It’s our firm belief that this mission can only be fulfilled, if the community views us as a company that also possesses those selfsame 3 important characteristics – Integrity, Intelligence and Intensity!