Dive Brief:

• A university study indicates that top performance candidates have a lot more in common with each other than previously thought. Herman Aguinis, Professor of Management at George Washington University School of Business and former Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship with the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University; published his findings after studying 633,263 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and amateur and professional athletes.

• Aguinis’ survey concluded that 10% of productivity originates from the top 1% of employees. Additionally, top performance employees put out 4 times as much work as other employees.

• Indeed, the online job search platform, decided to conduct a survey to determine what attributes the top performance candidates share. Their goal was to answer the question,” So who are these impressive individuals that make outsized contributions to our businesses, and how can we hire more of them so that we reach our business goals faster?”

Dive Insight:

Indeed surveyed 1,000 employers who are actively recruiting to discover what makes their top performance employees stand out from others the most.

When asked, employers indicated that the 5 factors that contributed to candidates being top performers came down to soft skills, which can be developed by anyone over time. The number one attribute was problem solving (38%), followed by drive (33%), self-direction (29%), strategic thinking (28%), and finally initiative (27%).

Indeed recommended that employers consider ways to hire for these traits and develop them in their existing teams. Their 2016 Talent Attraction Study: How Top Performers Search for Jobs is available to guide hiring managers focused on recruiting the best candidates.