The ability to keep one’s word is a quality many seek out in their friendships and significant others.
Walmart chief people officer Donna Morris looks for this quality in her employees, too. Morris, 57, oversees 2.1 million employees, and also holds the title of executive vice president. She says that employees who do exactly what they say they’re going to are a major green flag in her book.
“They deliver what you are expecting at the time that you’re expecting,” she says, adding that the best employees tend to get things done ahead of schedule. “So what I would say is you’re better to deliver early than to deliver late, and you’re better to deliver more than less, if that makes sense.”
Integrity and trustworthiness are both highly sought after character traits in hiring, as bosses want to know their employees can get the job done and will go above and beyond at work, Morris says. They also help you gain status and more respect among your peers, leadership expert and author Scott Mautz wrote for CNBC Make It.
Along with reliability, Morris appreciates an employee who’s open to new opportunities. “They put their hand up to take on more. They don’t push back,” she says. “People who are like, ‘I’m willing to do it,’ even if they’ve got a lot on their plate — that’s a total green flag.”
