Personal attributes valued by employers.

Personal attributes valued by employers

As a group, we decided that we wanted to find out some information about the personal attributes valued by employers. To do this, we have created a questionnaire which we have handed out to employees to answer. The questions are based around the personal attributes valued by an employer and good working practices. This means that we have asked questions to find out about the self-motivation, the health and safety, data protection and organisation.

As you can see, from our results, 60% of our respondents that volunteered to answer were females, and 40% were males. This may affect our questionnaire as the answers are not varied as well as they could be.

As you can see from the above graph, 0% if 20-25 year olds answered the questionnaire, 14.3% of respondents were aged 26-30, 0% was aged 31-35, 28.6%were aged 36-40, another 14.3% were aged 41-45 and a following 14.3% were aged 46-50 and 28.6% were aged 51+.

The first open question we asked was ‘Does your employers expect you to be self-motivated and how you ensure this?’ The responses given back from this were very detailed containing information on how the employee works in their workplace. The first respondent provided information about being self-motivated by their targets they have to meet and how enjoying their job and striving for excellence makes them and their team motivated.

Another respondent said that they can work independently and part of team which makes them motivated. She also said that keeping the children occupied and cheerful motivates her.

Our third respondent said that they feel they are motivated by running a team containing five members of staff. She said that she tries to not only motivate herself but her team too through monthly 1:1’s with staff about training and motivation. The information about the respondent also having 1:1’s with her line manager was also included, telling us that work issues and health and safety issues are covered.

The fourth respondent said that eighteen years of experience ensures that they are self-motivated which their employer expects.

Respondent number five said that they feel they are self-motivated meeting their employer’s expectations by aiming to drive the staff and the business to success, and as they are the line manager, this is what they must ensure.

Again, respondent number six said that they ensure they are self-motivated by meeting targets.

Our final respondent said that they are already motivated due to the position they are at in the company.

Our respondents of the questionnaire were questioned on how they're employers value personal attributes at the current place they work at which were from a variety of sectors from Argos to Marsh & McLennon Companies to Asda to Mersey Deanery-NHS North West to Maghull High School to Sefton Council.

We also asked these respondents what position they are at in the business. They were from a variety of positions from a manager and Financial Analyst at Marsh & McLennon Companies to a manager of a department at Asda, as too did another respondent to the section leader at Mersey Deanery- NHS North West to a business studies teacher at Maghull High School and a Progress Leader and a Learning Support Assistant at Sefton Council Schools.

We also asked our respondents what previous jobs they have had so that we can determine whether this may have influenced the way they act in their current job.

Our first respondent said that they worked in newsagents. This could have potentially played a part in how well they work in their current job, as a sales cashier as they may have known how to use the tills.

Another respondent said that they worked as a Finance Advisor before they were where they are now. This may have helped them in their current job as they may be used to using some of the software used in their current job.

One of our other respondents said that they were the Manager of a food shop. This may help them where they are at today being the manager of a department in Asda, as they may know what they need to produce and provide in their role.

Our other Manager at Asda said that they had worked in a few places before becoming what they are today. These were Sainsbury's, Aroma Beauty and a part time teacher at a school. This may not have potentially helped them in their current role, as they do not contain any tasks that a Manager would have to complete.

The Section Leader at Mersey Deanery- NHS North West had previous jobs such as a Holiday Representative, an Insurance Clerk, and a Bar Assistant. None of these unfortunately would affect how they would work in their current role, however, they may know what to expect from their employer and the personal attributes valued.

The teacher at Maghull High School said that they were a lecturer in Marketing and Management which would help them in Business Studies as they would know about the markets. They may also know what targets they need to meet and how to motivate themselves to ensure this.

Our other respondent was a housewife before an LSA meaning that this may not have helped in how she would work; however, she may have been able to handle children as she may have handled her own as a housewife.

From handing out this questionnaire, we have found a lot of information on how employers value personal attributes, and how employees ensure that they self-motivate and meet targets. This has helped us to understand what is expected in jobs which we may have in the future.