What qualities do you look for in a good employee?

You’ll want to find energetic people who have the physical and mental endurance to complete tasks in a timely manner and contribute to each assignment with enthusiasm.

You’ll want hire people who will take initiative. You don’t want to have to babysit employees who have no sense of what needs to be done or how to do it, or who just wait around to be told what to do. People with initiative find out what needs to be done and find a way to get it done.

You’ll want to hire people with a cooperative attitude. The last thing you want to do is struggle with someone who refuses to do things the way you need it done in conjunction with the rest of the team. While there is nothing wrong with creativity and thinking outside the box, lack of cooperation by even one employee can create serious problems in productivity. Cooperation is not only productive, but is infectious and quickly spreads to other employees and eventually even affects customers in a positive way.

Hire people who can be trusted to be dependable or you and your other employees will constantly be compensating for the lack of dependability.

Hire people who take ownership of their employment. These employees have a sincere desire to benefit their company beyond what their job description might demand. These are the employees who take pride in their work and in the business. Employees who desire to grow with the company are more easily retainable than employees who are just there to put in their hours and get their paycheck.

Hire people who are pleasant to be around. No one wants to work with grumpy, negative people. Negative people will affect every employee in your business and also your customers. Every employee will occasionally have a bad day, but for the most part, you should expect your employees to be at least pleasant, if not cheerful, at work.

It goes without saying that you want employees who are trustworthy and honest. Do your duty and carefully screen employees before hiring them. It’s better for you to find out that they are dishonest by talking to their previous employer or by doing a background check on them, than by firsthand experience. Dishonest and untrustworthy employees can be a severe liability to your business. Don’t risk it.

Justice Mandhla is the author of What they did not teach you in school: Life Long Learning Tips to land a job straight out of school and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about job search strategies.
See more at www.mystudent4life.com

Recognition of Prior Learning

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is the recognition by some South African Universities of any learning that occurred before the applicant decided to formally register for an academic qualification.
• The RPL programme enables you to gain recognition and credit for what you already know and can do.
• You receive credit for what you have learned from your experience rather than from the experience itself. For instance, if you have worked as an HR Practitioner for ten years, you will have learned a vast number of skills such as, how to facilitate a simple disciplinary hearing, how to manage the everyday Human Resources Administration and how Skills Development and Training is conducted.
• These are the kind of skills that you could receive credit for.
• RPL makes it possible for you to earn credit towards a University academic qualification and thus to receive recognition for skills and knowledge you already possess.
The RPL process uses a variety of tools to help you reflect on, identify, explain and show past learning that you’ve gained through formal and informal study. You may have gained your learning through work, life experience, training, independent study, volunteering, on-the-job training opportunities, travel, community activities, family activities and experiences, hobbies or by any other means.
You may apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for a specific subject if you can prove you’re already competent regarding the specific subject.
The learning outcomes of a subject are the competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes) you’ll be expected to have gained by the time you’ve completed that subject. Your task will be to compare the learning that has occurred during your adult life with the learning outcomes of the subject for which you want to apply for credit. You‘ll have to show that you meet the set requirements or learning outcomes of those subjects.
As part of the RPL process, the Skills Development Facilitator will help you to identify your skills and knowledge, and to write them up in a portfolio. The portfolio of evidence will then be sent to the University for Assessment to determine whether your learning will be recognised. The university may subject you to other assessment methods such as challenge examinations, interviews or an RPL assignment.

This website provides quality advice and career-focused lifelong learning principles.
To learn more visit: www.mystudent4life.com