Prime Highlight

• Donna Morris, Walmart’s Chief People Officer, emphasizes that keeping promises and delivering beyond expectations are key qualities that set employees apart in the workplace.
• Alongside reliability, she values openness to new opportunities, noting that employees who willingly take on extra responsibilities signal strong potential.

Key Facts

• Experts caution that overcommitting can harm mental health and productivity, and breaking promises may erode trust between workers and managers.
• Productivity advisors, including Google’s Laura Mae Martin, recommend minimizing distractions, avoiding procrastination, and taking small breaks to stay energized and prevent burnout.

Background

The ability to keep promises is not just important in personal relationships; it is also a key quality in the workplace, says Donna Morris, Walmart’s Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President.

Morris, 57, with more than 2.1 million employees under her, says she likes employees who are consistent in doing what they promise to do. They also go out of their way to give you what you want when you want it, adds Moissinac, who points out, the best employees usually will perform tasks sooner than expected. Early and above expectation delivery, she adds, is what differentiates employees. These traits of integrity and trust are qualities that most employers seek, Morris says, since they give them confidence that the worker can be depended upon.

Together with reliability, another thing that Morris views as an excellent quality is openness to new opportunities. She likes people who are ready to accept additional duties and responsibilities. When individuals claim that they are ready to do it even though they have many things to do, that is a complete green signal, regardless of how much they are occupied, she says.

But experts caution against overextending yourself. According to Drew McCaskill, LinkedIn career expert, volunteering too much can affect mental health and productivity in a negative way. When a manager overpromises and does not fulfill, it may kill any trust between the worker and the boss, says Morris.

In order to prevent burnout, experts propose employing such means as being your own assistant. Executive productivity advisor at Google, Laura Mae Martin, suggests that it is best to minimize distractions and avoid procrastination and to take small breaks to be rejuvenated. By taking a break to re-fuel yourself, not only will that help an individual get more energized to perform better, but also a big difference is going to be noticed in the output of that individual, she says.