8 Key Behavioral Indicators for Employers To Identify Top Talent

Understanding employee performance goes beyond technical skills.

That is why assessing technical skills is often easier, but assessing behavioral competencies is challenging and more difficult to evaluate. Employee behavior tends to be subjective, which can make it more of a challenge. All of this leads to uneven assessments and hinders people development.

Often, employees are hesitant to give honest feedback about their own work and how they perform their job, which makes the review process harder for managers. Without that feedback, it’s hard to get a clear picture of how an employee is doing and whether they have potential to do more.

This is where key behavioral indicators come in handy and can make employee performance evaluation a lot easier to measure and more fun.

In this article, we’ll explore why key behavioral indicators are a powerful tool in talent management and how you can start using them.

What are key behavioral indicators?

Key behavioral indicators are the actions, habits, and characteristics that affect how people engage, talk, and do their jobs at work. These indicators look at things like conversation style, teamwork, leadership traits, flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.

Technical skills, on the other hand, focus on specific tasks related to the job. It is important to be aware of and understand both of these to measure and judge an employee's general performance and overall potential.

Remember, key behavioral indicators greatly affect how well an employee does their job. They affect how well an employee works with others, talks to them, and solves problems as a team. 

As an example, think of a worker who is good at leading people and flexible. They’re more likely to handle problems well and lead and motivate their coworkers. 

Another example is an employee who excels in both individual and group communication and collaboration. He is more likely to get along with his colleagues and find creative solutions to problems. 

On the other hand, an individual who is bad at communicating and working with others may find it difficult to collaborate, making problem-solving more difficult and lowering the team's overall performance.

Why are key behavioral indicators important?

Key behavioral indicators give you a complete picture and offer a holistic view of employee performance, supplementing technical skill assessments.

Indicators like these are critical for businesses to build productive teams, promote good communication, resolve conflicts, and uphold ethical behavior. Assessing these indicators helps improve employee engagement while protecting your company’s finances in the long run by predicting performance. Ultimately these strategies help businesses incorporate these values into their culture permanently while identifying and tackling challenges and rewarding exceptional conduct.

Many companies leverage behavioral indicators to establish effective teams by finding their employee competencies, reduce turnover, and improve employee retention.

A webology study saw companies that prioritize behavioral competency development experience increased employee retention and stronger organizational culture.

A culture of success where workers are driven to do their best work because they feel appreciated. It also makes things transparent and fair because everyone knows what is expected of them and the standards for success based on how they act.

All these initiatives bring everyone on the same page and create a win-win situation.

Key behavioral indicators to look out for

Behavioral indicators show a person's social abilities, communication skills, and show how this employee fits into your company now and where they could be in the future.

Knowing these areas may help managers and mentors see their workers' and mentees’ strengths and weaknesses. As a result, they design their coaching or mentoring programs accordingly and can tailor their guidance. It also helps identify issues before they get worse and ensures everyone is working at their best.

Let's explore some behavioral indicators and how they help you assess current and future employee performance:

1. Behavioral indicators of teamwork

• Collaboration: Ability to work cooperatively with others to achieve common goals.
• Contribution: Willingness to actively participate in team projects and initiatives.
• Supportiveness: This behavioral indicator looks like readiness to assist colleagues and offer help when needed.
• Respect for Diversity: Demonstrating acceptance and appreciation for diverse perspectives and backgrounds within the team.‍

2. Behavioral indicators of communication skills

• Clarity: Ability to convey ideas and information clearly and effectively is a great behavioral indicator.
• Active listening: Demonstrating attentiveness and understanding when others speak.
• Non-verbal communication: Utilizing body language and facial expressions to enhance employee communication.
• Feedback receptivity: Openness to receiving and incorporating feedback from others.

3. Behavioral indicators of leadership

• Vision: Ability to articulate a clear vision and direction for the team or organization.
• Motivation: Inspiring and motivating others to achieve their best performance.
• Decision-making: Making informed and timely decisions while considering input from team members.
• Accountability: Taking responsibility for one's actions and the outcomes of decisions made.
  

4. Behavioral indicators of conflict resolution skills

• Conflict resolution: Ability to address conflicts constructively and find mutually acceptable solutions.
• Emotional control: Maintaining composure and professionalism during challenging situations.
• Negotiation: Seeking win-win outcomes by bargaining and compromising when conflicts arise.
• Mediation: Facilitating discussions between conflicting parties to resolve.
  

5. Behavioral indicators of ethical conduct

• Integrity: Demonstrating honesty, transparency, and ethical conduct in all interactions.
• Respect for Confidentiality: Upholding confidentiality and respecting sensitive information.
• Adherence to policies and regulations: Following organizational policies, laws, and regulations.
• Ethical decision-making: Considering ethical implications when making decisions and taking actions.
  

6. Behavioral indicators of emotional intelligence

• Self-awareness: Recognizing and understanding one's own emotions and their impact on behavior.
• Empathy: Understanding and empathizing with the emotions and perspectives of others.
• Relationship management: Building and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Stress management: Effectively managing stress and adapting to changing circumstances.
  

7. Behavioral indicators of organizational skills

• Time management: Prioritizing tasks, meeting deadlines, and effectively utilizing time.
• Planning and organizing: Setting goals, creating plans, and arranging resources efficiently.
• Attention to detail: Paying careful attention to accuracy and thoroughness in work tasks.
• Adaptability: Flexibility and willingness to adjust plans and priorities in response to changes.
  

8. Behavioral indicators of problem-solving skills

• Analytical thinking: Analyzing information, identifying patterns, and generating insights.
• Creativity: Thinking innovatively and generating new ideas to address challenges.
• Decision-making: Making well-informed decisions based on thorough evaluation and analysis.
• Persistence: Persevering in the face of obstacles and seeking alternative solutions when necessary.

The relationship between mentorship and key behavioral indicators

One of the most important ways to help someone succeed on the job is to act as a mentor to them. Many of these are qualities of a good mentor and can be modeled to more junior employees. This is why a mentorship program is critical for developing and improving key behavioral indicators necessary for job success. 

Let’s dive into more detail about how mentorship programs in the workplace can help develop those behavior indicators:

1. Emotional support and role modeling 

Mentors give mentees important emotional support and act as role models, teaching them important skills like emotional intelligence, resilience, and flexibility. Mentors show mentees how to deal with problems, bounce back from failures, and give them advice and support through new or challenging situations.

This relationship also becomes a safe space for mentees to ask mentors questions without fear of judgment, helping build confidence and identify their own strengths and weaknesses.

2. Role clarity and expectations

Mentorship programs help clarify performance standards and behavior indicators in your company. Mentors help their mentees understand the key behaviors they need to do well in their jobs, show them how to meet these standards, and ensure their actions are in line with the goals and values of the company.

3. Experiential learning

Mentees get a chance to practice and improve their behavioral indicators in real-world circumstances via mentoring, which promotes practical and experiential learning.

As they work side by side with their mentors, mentees get practical experience while honing their abilities and getting instant constructive feedback.

This approach allows for ongoing growth and skill development. Where achieving all of this sounds challenging, Together makes it approachable for organizations. 

Together is a powerful mentoring platform designed to support, improve, and enhance key behavioral indicators. 

It has features and functionalities that help mentors guide mentees through hands-on learning, help them solve challenges, and give them more clarity on what’s expected of them, which makes it easier for organizations to develop key behavior indicators for consistent growth.

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Leveraging key behavioral indicators for performance management

Key behavioral indicators can help organizations improve their performance management in several ways. You can learn a lot about your workers' work habits, communication skills, and ability to solve problems by using key behavioral indicators in performance management.

This data-driven approach makes reviews more objective and fair, which leads to focused feedback and customized growth plans.

Here are five ways key behavioral indicators can help you with performance management.

1. Setting performance goals: ‍

Make sure that your performance goals are in line with the organization's values and goals by adding behavioral markers to them.

Set clear, measurable goals that mirror the behavior indicators you want your workers to have. This will allow them to focus on the behaviors that will help them succeed.

2. Giving feedback:

Bring attention to specific actions taken and areas of improvement. Encourage open discussion and contact to make it easier for everyone to understand and meet performance standards.

3. Conducting performance reports:

To get a full picture of an employee's work, include key behavioral indicators in their performance reports. Not only technical skills should be evaluated, but also behavioral skills. Behaviors that help the company succeed should be recognized and rewarded.

Track the data over time to find trends, strong points, and ways to make things better.

4. Identifying top talent and success planning: ‍

Find high performers and help them become stars in the future as part of a high potential development program. Personalities should be judged on how well they lead, communicate, work with others, and do other important things.

Start leadership succession planning programs to make sure you have a steady flow of talented people with the right behavioral indicators to help the company grow.

5. Talent development initiatives: ‍

To help employees grow and reach their full potential, include behavioral signs in talent development programs. Offer training and mentorship programs that are specifically designed to encourage the behaviors you want to see and fill in skill holes.

How to build a culture of behavioral excellence

For a company to be successful, it needs to create a culture that values and encourages key behavioral indicators. Focus on these indicators from the very beginning by using them in the hiring process to find people who will fit in with the values and vision of the company.

Use interviews and behavioral tests to figure out if a candidate is a good fit based on how they could act on the job. In the hiring process, it’s important to go over behavioral standards and expectations from the start so candidates are on the same page.

The other way to achieve this is by using behavioral indicators as part of training and development. Create training programs that focus on and encourage key behaviors that are related to job duties and the organization's goals.

Give your workers chances to practice and use these behaviors in real or artificial situations. Include ways to give feedback to help people keep getting better and promote the habits you want them to have. 

‍Leadership development programs give leaders the tools they need to set a good example for their teams and encourage them to show those behaviors. Offer classes that help people become better leaders that focus on improving skills like conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and communication.

Key takeaways about behavior indicators

In summary, behavioral indicators are incredibly valuable cues for you to look out for when assessing your talent and helping both you and your employees plan their path forward.

Here is key information you should take away about behavioral indicators:

1. What are key behavioral indicators: These are actions, habits, and traits that influence communication, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. They complement technical skills and provide a more holistic view of employee performance.
2. Why they’re important: They make performance evaluations more objective and fair while improving team dynamics, communication, and promoting ethical behavior.
3. Different use cases: These indicators typically fall into categories like teamwork, communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, ethical conduct, etc. which can be used to assess employees in different contexts such as for promotions or leadership track.
4. Mentorship develops behavioral skills: Mentors become role models who demonstrate the most desirable behavioral indicators while helping mentees improve technical skills at the same time.
5. Better performance management: Using key behavioral indicators in performance management aligns goals with behavioral expectations while helping HR and management identify high performers and high potential employees.

Prioritize key behaviors in your talent management

It's essential to prioritize the identification and utilization of key behavioral indicators in your talent management practices.

When you use these indicators, you see better performance, improved employee engagement, and are able to streamline succession planning and other strategic goals. Now that you understand behavioral indicators, you can make sure individual behaviors match your company’s values and mission.

So, if you want to leverage key behavioral indicators to start identifying your top talent and encourage employees to live your company’s values, Together can help! Book a demo with one of our experts to get started.