Survey Results: What Traits do Businesses Look for in New Hires?
OKLAHOMA CITY - April 26, 2017
Work Ethic and Attitude Trump Experience and Education
Communication is a High Priority
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Express Employment Professionals released new survey results today revealing traits that are most important to businesses when hiring job candidates.
In a survey of 1,030 businesses, respondents were asked to "rate the following traits in order of importance when hiring a candidate with 1 being least important and 5 being most important."
"Work ethic/integrity" topped the list, with an average rating of 4.60, followed closely by "attitude" at 4.57.
"Communication" was the only other trait with an average rating greater than 4. "Culture fit," "critical thinking" and "consistent work history" followed, with "job experience," "education" and "references" rounding out the bottom three.
Full results are below.
"All of these traits matter; there's no doubt about that," said Bob Funk, CEO of Express, and a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "Still, you can help someone build experience or knowledge, but you can't teach integrity or attitude. That's reflected in this survey, and it is why employers put such a premium on these traits. Communication and cultural fit are very similar in that regard as well. You just cannot afford to have someone on a team who's going to harm others' ability to get the job done."
The survey of 1,030 businesses, which are current and former clients of Express Employment Professionals, was conducted in March 2017 to gauge respondents' expectations for the second quarter of 2017. Previous surveys were conducted to cover job insights of the quarters indicated.
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If you would like to arrange for an interview with Bob Funk to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena Karami, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, at (405) 717-5966.
About Robert A. Funk
Robert A. "Bob" Funk is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the international staffing company has more than 770 franchises in the U.S., Canada and South Africa. Under his leadership, Express has put more than 6 million people to work worldwide. Funk served as Chairman of the Conference of Chairmen of the Federal Reserve and was also the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
About Express Employment Professionals
Express Employment Professionals puts people to work. It generated $3.05 billion in sales and employed a record 510,000 people in 2016. Its long-term goal is to put a million people to work annually. For more information, visit
ExpressPros.com.