What Kenyan-Bosses Really Want.

By Juliah Karimi
Most employees want nothing more than to impress their boss. But it’s hard to do that when you don’t know exactly what bosses want. I tried impressing my boss with all the wrong things and clearly after I thought about it I was actually embarrassing myself.

Most often than now we ask ourselves questions ranging from, do they want you to check in every day with a status report? Do they want you to come to them only when there’s a problem? Do they want you to ask questions, or figure out the answers on your own?

I went round asking a few senior management people and CEO’s what exactly they wanted and these are the answers I got

The Time Saver
Bosses are busy. At any given moment, they have 10 things that they should have been doing yesterday, which means that bosses want employees that can save them time. They want employees that can make the daily decisions on their own and who have enough initiative to see how something is done the first time and then do it the next time without guidance.

Bosses also want employees that are humble and gracious. They want employees that are willing to put the work in, but humble enough to pass the praise along to everyone. Finally, bosses want employees that respect themselves. Employees that respect themselves as well are a joy because they are usually self-confident. This type of attitude prevents mental breakdowns, unnecessary drama, and all of the little stresses that bosses hate dealing with on a daily basis.

Communication
I had a really bad colleague once and she would never tell me anything until we had reached the board room for a meeting over something that had gone wrong and that when she chose to tell me that something hadn’t been done. There is nothing as bad as entering a board room and looking like you haven’t been communicating with each other. Honest communication.

To manage effectively across the organization, acute awareness regarding the interdependency of departments, partnerships, culture and subcultures is critical. Clear communication benefits stakeholders by supplying relevant information in order to ensure their continued buy-in and support.

Communication serves to maintain a straightforward understanding of the process to be followed, content of updates, frequency of updates and an assessment of project management tools employed.

Honesty and Ethics
Good bosses want these things from their direct reports: honesty and the [ability to say what] he or she thinks about a proposal or idea; the willingness to disagree without being disagreeable; someone who is pleasant to work with; someone who does what she or he says will get done; and someone who supports an agreed-upon action, even if the person thinks the agreed-upon action is not right.

They are honest and ethical. They care about doing a good job. They are proactive. They are lifelong learners. They seek to constantly improve. They think long-term.

Self Motivators
The best employees are motivated, resourceful and conscientious. Without motivation, you have nothing, because nothing starts. Resourcefulness brings innovative thinking to the forefront and helps maintain an edge on the competition while increasing efficiency. Conscientiousness prevents mistakes from happening and repeatedly stands out as a predictor of success on the job. When these three occur [together], success is guaranteed.

Personality
There are three main things I look for in a successful team member: an amazing skill set that will help the company move forward, a very high work ethic [and] a pleasant personality. We like to have fun with each other and our clients. While everyone has bad days, a person who’s generally pleasant is a major plus for any boss.

Accountability and Ownership
Good bosses want three things: transparency, strategic accountability and responsibility. For the growth and advancement of the organization, bosses want direct reports who ‘own’ progress, opportunities or challenges. Successful direct reports understand that with any empowerment or authority comes accountability.

Success with regard to that accountability can lead to career success for those team members, and also the organization. Further, in this economy and business environment, bosses must have direct reports who are creative, think outside the box and can then build upon their pride of success while continuing to focus ‘outside the

Leadership and Management
Bosses want everyone who works in a company to be able to lead at a moment’s notice, and from anywhere in the organization, but that’s only possible if everyone has daily practice taking risks. Most Bosses encourage that by providing an environment where it is safe to make mistakes and where important risks are rewarded whether they succeed or not.

Bosses really want a few things from direct reports. They want people who can use their critical thinking skills to solve a problem. They also look for people who can bring way more in value and great ideas to the table than their worth in terms of salary. So if you’re being paid 50,000 per month, you better be able to bring at least K’sh 50,001 in great ideas and value.

Are you Valuable
Be ready to show off the value you bring to the organization. Forget what it says on your job description, which was written years ago and never updated. Bosses want to see employees taking initiative and proactively seeking ways to make the business better, acting as leaders to other employees

Understanding who the boss is
There are some characteristics that would appear to be universally desirable: integrity, intelligence and conscientiousness. However, in addition to those universal ‘wants,’ the boss also wants the employee to take the time to understand who the boss is.

The boss expects the employee to understand the boss’s individual goals and objectives and the context in which the boss operates. The boss expects the employee to identify the boss’s strengths, weaknesses, needs and working style preferences, and attempt to accommodate them.

A good boss will try to communicate those explicitly to the employee. A great boss will try to accommodate the employee’s goals and needs as well. But all bosses will want their employees to figure out how to apply their individual skills and abilities to help their boss do their job better and accomplish their goals

Julie Karimi is a HR Officer Corporate Staffing Services email: bettercv@staff-kenya.com: www.staff-kenya.com

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Monday Job Advice. HR Is Not Your Freind.Why Successful Kenyan Women In Careers And Jobs Fail With Men.Executive Director Kenyan Job.

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