Have you ever walked into a bank and been greeted warmly and sincerely, or received poor service and wondered why that person even has a job with the company? These employees either have or lack many of the traits that we take for granted.

Have you ever observed an associate saying something like: I can't go to lunch as I have a project deadline; Excuse me, I have to take this customer call; Sure I'll help, just give me a minute to finish this; I don't know the answer to your question but maybe we can find someone who does? These are all statements that exemplify the dominant traits of various associates and, as such, are common traits measured by Kenexa.

Before you read further and discover I have not included your favorite or maybe dominant trait, let me say that this list is just a sample that I have derived from my 20+ years of observing behavior at the trait level.

At Kenexa, "traits" are defined as recurring and consistent patterns of behavior. We are able to measure them by asking questions that we believe are related to a specific trait. For example, the question "How do you feel when someone doubts what you have to say" is related to a generalized trait family called Assertiveness, and more specifically, to Courage.

When we try to measure a trait, we are attempting to learn something about a person's instinctive pattern of behavior. In most cases the behavior "just happens"-no conscious decision is made to either engage in the behavior or not. In addition, when we measure traits that are related to success on a specific job, we can make a prediction about that person's potential behaviors and for their possible success on the job.

These traits do not exist as independent behaviors but rather influence, amplify and temper one another. A person is unlikely to exhibit each trait at a very high level; most people rate high in some traits and some that are not at the strength level. For most people, traits can have a compensatory relationship where the strength takes over for the weakness.

The following traits are behaviors that seem to be necessary for successful job performance.

1. Responsibility
This is a psychological ownership for the job. People who possess this trait have a solid value structure and do what they say they will. People who rate high in "Responsibility" talk about their job, company and clients, complete projects on time because they said they would, proof that report one last time and absolutely follow through on their commitments.

People who are exemplars for this trait are seen as honest and trustworthy and having high integrity. People high in "Responsibility" will take ownership of fixing a problem even when they are not at fault in causing it. They will have a strong, negative emotional response (a sick feeling in their stomach) when a client commitment is not met or a critical error or deadline is not fulfilled. They will "own" the error with the client and will not try to
shift blame.

2. Achiever
This person's internal drive is to be busy, active and to get many things done. People high in "Achiever" are always looking for something to do. They are at their best when work is intense and fast. When they do not have too many things going on, they may become bored or impatient. In fast-paced, intense and even chaotic times, they will say, "Isn't this great?" When times are slower, they are asking people if they can help them. Sometimes, they even hoard work to create the feeling of being busy. At the end of the day, they think about what they have completed and wonder why they could not have done more.

3. Belief
People with this trait strongly believe in the importance of the work they do and the benefit it provides to the customer. Associates high in "Belief" know why they are in the business they are in and the value provided to the customer. Profit is not a dirty word but a necessity to keep the business going so they can touch even more lives. The pay they receive every two weeks comes from the customer and not from their company; thus, people work very diligently to make sure the customer gets great service. People high in this trait feel best when they are doing something positive for someone else.

4. Relator or Interpersonal
People high in this trait are well liked by others, can get along well with different and sometimes difficult personalities, and many times can get people to help them just because they are liked. They know how to make people feel better and they work very hard to develop and sustain a long-term relationship.

5. Team Orientation
People high in this trait work very hard to help the group and will not hesitate to help other members. When people are asked what they do at the company they will define their work by telling you what team they work on. Someone with this trait will say things like, "I am working tonight because I need to get this task done so that Mary and Bill can start on their parts first thing tomorrow." The implication is that they will work late so that they do not let the team down. They will even do a
difficult task, as long as it assists the team in meeting its goals. They put the team first and themselves second.

6. Focus
Have you walked by someone's workspace and greeted him or her only to be met by dead silence? Have you ever stood in the entrance to someone's workspace only to be rudely ignored? This may not really be rudeness; people high in "Focus" seem to have blinders on at times. They may not notice because they are so intent on getting the task completed. They have the ability to stay on a task for many hours at a time-in some ways this seems almost monomaniacal, but in reality they are able to concentrate on what they are doing to such an extent that they shut out the rest of the world.

7. Assertiveness
Do you know someone who is able to deal with confrontation, and actually seems to thrive from it? These people can be very direct and forthcoming, sometimes described as "telling it like it is." They stand up for themselves and can be very good at dealing with abusive customers or situations. Those high in "Assertiveness" are direct in dealing with customers, peers, subordinates and the person to whom they report. Many times this person is chosen as the spokesperson to management or a committee because of this trait.

8. Pride
People possessing this trait has to make sure the work they do is of the highest quality. They spend a lot of time making sure the work is done to an extremely high standard before they will put their name on it. Sometimes it may never seem good enough to them, but they do put out work of a very high level and standard. Often their penchant for such high-level performance influences those around them to raise their work to a high standard as well. A job worth doing is a job worth doing well; no substitutes accepted.