How to Find Reliable Employees in 2022

“Talent is the most important resource of a company.”

In the past, employers often focused on hiring “high-potential” talent. But today, reliability has become the top trait companies look for when choosing candidates. Skills and potential matter, but without reliability, even the most talented employee can create risks for the organization. So the key question is: how do you identify whether a person is reliable?

The Characteristics of Reliable People

In simple terms, a reliable person is someone who can be trusted to follow through. As the saying goes: “everything is settled, everything has an explanation, and everything has a reply.”

McKinsey highlights three essential elements of talent that also reveal reliability:

1. Personal impact – the ability to influence, motivate, and understand others.
2. Self-motivation – having clear goals, persistence, and resilience in the face of challenges.
3. Problem-solving skills – being pragmatic and results-oriented, finishing tasks first before perfecting them.

Similarly, the Founder of Hillhouse Group points out four traits of reliable people:

• Self-driven – they pursue meaning and value in their work.
• Time-sensitive – they manage time wisely and focus on what matters most.
• Empathetic – they think beyond themselves and work with understanding and compassion.
• Lifelong learners – they continuously seek growth and improvement.

How Companies Can Identify Reliable Talent

At Smart Salary, we believe reliability can be spotted through two approaches: seeing and asking.

1. Seeing (first impressions and cultural fit)
   The first contact matters. Does the candidate feel aligned with your company’s culture, values, and way of working? Companies like Google and Alibaba even describe it as “smelling the candidate’s scent”—an instinctive sense of whether they fit in.

2. Assessing competency
   Beyond impressions, companies need structured assessments. Competency models help measure qualities like time management, technical skills, and responsibility. A truly reliable person shows not just emotional stability, but consistent contributions over time.

3. Asking the right questions
   During interviews, well-crafted questions can reveal reliability. For example:

• Who would you most like to work with?
• What will you do in your first month on the job?
• Have you ever made a major mistake? How did you handle it?

These questions uncover how candidates think, respond to challenges, and interact with others.

Why It Matters for Organizations

Hiring reliable employees doesn’t just reduce risks it strengthens company culture. Reliable people improve team trust, efficiency, and long-term stability. As the book Value puts it: “The greatest happiness brought by work should be doing interesting things with reliable people and treating colleagues as your business partners.”

By combining smart recruitment practices with tools like Smart Salary’s HR solutions, companies can better evaluate candidates, manage employee data, and foster a reliable, high-performing workforce.