Probably, every manager at least once in his life faced with the need to draw up a characteristic for an employee of his enterprise. And of course, employees of the personnel department are constantly faced with this, although a truly objective assessment of the employee (which the characteristic should reflect) can only be given by the immediate supervisor of the employee - one who knows how well or poorly the employee of the enterprise copes with his duties, saw his professional growth, initiative or passivity, and the like.

What is a negative or positive characteristic for?

Usually, the characteristics are compiled at the request of third-party organizations (law enforcement agencies, banks, universities) and, in general, a positive characteristic is obtained for the employee, despite the fact that the document should contain only an objective, impartial assessment.

Also, the characteristic can be compiled for use within the organization: if the manager needs to make a decision to transfer or promote an employee, if the question arises of encouraging (rewarding) an employee or imposing a penalty on him for a disciplinary offense or causing material damage to the enterprise. In the latter case, a negative characteristic of the employee may result.

General rules for writing characteristics

The difficulty of compiling a characteristic lies in the fact that there are no uniform established norms for its content and design. However, the characteristic for an employee of the enterprise refers to official documents, so it is better to write it on the official letterhead of the enterprise, adhering to all norms business etiquette: the text should be in the third person, the wording should be clear and concise, strictly to the point, without extraneous reasoning. It is especially worth avoiding any judgments about the personality of the employee, it is only necessary to state the facts, regardless of whether you are making a negative characterization of the employee or a positive one.

Feature text

The text of any characteristic, as a rule, contains some mandatory items.

1. Official details.
2. Name, surname, patronymic, profession (position) of the employee for whom the characteristic is drawn up.
3. The employee's marital status, education and year of birth are also indicated.
4. Information about the career: briefly, but in detail, all the stages of the employee's professional path are indicated, where he started, what he achieved, what position he is now. If necessary, you can specify where and by whom the employee worked before he joined this enterprise.
5. Qualities of the employee - professional or personal.
6. Awards, penalties, scientific works and titles, developments and inventions.
7. Information about education, training, advanced training for a working career.
8. The purpose of compiling the characteristics: for presentation at the place of demand, for certification, for submission to the police station, and so on.

Official details contain:

• the name of the document (Characteristic) - is written at the very beginning, in the middle;
• outgoing number (if necessary) - written in the upper right corner;
• date of preparation of the document;
• signatures (compiler and head of the enterprise);
• enterprise seal (usually round).

The last three paragraphs are drawn up at the end of the document.

Positive characteristic for an employee

Of course, the characteristic should contain an impartial assessment, but sometimes a more positive characteristic may be required. For example, if an employee is to be presented for a reward. Or in the case of passing certification (especially if the employee has a chance to get a higher position or rank as a result). good feature on the employee may also be required to provide to the guardianship authorities.

Such a characteristic is compiled according to the same principle as described above, but depending on the purpose of the document (to whom it will be presented), the emphasis is on those qualities (skills professional skills and so on) of an employee who will show him in a favorable light.

Negative characteristic for an employee

Compiling such a characteristic is a rather controversial point, since a bad characteristic for an employee also characterizes the enterprise in a somewhat unfavorable light. It is impossible not to wonder what kind of enterprise (and its personnel department) is if such an unskilled or conflict worker was hired?

However, a negative characterization of an employee may be necessary, for example, to provide law enforcement or to impose a penalty on the employee. Such a document is being standard scheme, but in the text it is necessary to mention all the negative qualities of the employee (both personal and professional), all his miscalculations and shortcomings, be sure to recall all the penalties. Of course, if after the expiration of the calendar year the employee has not committed a single disciplinary offense, the penalty is considered canceled, but in the description it can be mentioned that such a case was. Of course, you should not get carried away with negativity and exaggerate, but in order to get a bad characterization for an employee, a simple listing of facts is enough.

The request to prepare a characteristic for an employee is most often addressed to specialists of the personnel department:

• the employee himself;
• government bodies;
• the head of the organization.

In the first and second cases, a ready-made characteristic from the place of work is needed to present it to some authorities outside the organization in which the employee works (for example, to guardianship and guardianship authorities; or to educational institution in which he studies on the job; or at a new place of work; or to court). Thus, the characteristic is required by an external customer.

In the third case, some internal organizational procedures are being prepared related to the assessment of an employee, and the document will be used within the institution. His client is internal.

Specialists personnel service they are not obliged to write a characteristic on their own, because they cannot know the business qualities of each employee, but they must organize the preparation of such a document: contact their immediate supervisor, assist him in writing and processing the document.

The content will depend on the purpose of creating the characteristic. Therefore, consider various options frequently encountered in practice.

Examples of positive and negative characteristics

To begin with, let's give an example of a positive characteristic from the place of work. This is the most common option, which lists strengths person and his positive professional qualities.

Nikiforov Semyon Ivanovich is a high-profile specialist who has been working at Electrosystems LLC for 15 years. His total work experience is 22 years. During his work at Electrosystems LLC, he has established himself as a responsible, qualified employee. Semyon Ivanovich competently, quickly and effectively solves the tasks assigned to him. The projects for the installation of electrical systems entrusted to him were carried out with high quality and in short time. The main positive qualities of Semyon Ivanovich are his responsibility and perseverance in achieving the goal. It is also impossible not to note his ability to competently explain the task to other specialists. Nikiforov Semyon Ivanovich was twice awarded with gratitude from the management of Electrosystems LLC.

Now let's give an example of a negative characteristic:

Mitrofanov Ivan Ilyich worked as a fitter at Electrosystems LLC for 1 year and 3 months. During this time, he did not show high professionalism. Despite some positive qualities, Ivan Ilyich is characterized as a poorly disciplined worker. The lack of discipline was manifested in non-compliance with the deadlines for the completion of work, regular delays. Ivan Ilyich was twice subjected to disciplinary action.

Characteristics for promotion

Encouragement can be initiated by the leadership of the organization. In this case, the requirements for the procedure can be flexible and determined by local regulations:, Regulations on Incentives, etc. Often, the package of documents for submitting an employee for promotion also includes a description of the immediate supervisor.

A sample of characteristics from the place of work to the worker who is planned to be awarded with a Certificate of Honor

To choose the right words for a description, you need to think about what qualities are considered the most valuable in the company, and based on this, define the employee. The example of a reference from the place of work, presented above, focuses on performance qualities. However, it is possible that in your company it is especially welcome:

• dedication, loyalty to the company and its leaders;
• or the ability to make decisions, take the initiative;
• or a responsible attitude to the quality and timing of work;
• or the ability to build relationships with customers…

But there is another type of encouragement - awarding state awards. Russian Federation. In this case, serious requirements are imposed on documents from the place of work (for more details, see Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 07.09.2010 No. AK-3560). The letter contains guidelines regarding the preparation of award documents.

Sample characteristics for an employee to receive a state award

Characteristics when resolving the issue of recovery

The employee has committed a misconduct, and the question arises of a penalty: a reprimand or dismissal. Possibly carried out an official investigation. What kind of punishment to choose? To answer this question, all the circumstances and materials of the incident are carefully examined. If a positive characteristic from the place of work is taken into account, containing such assessments as:

• responsibility for the work performed;
• lack of bad habits;
• observance of labor discipline, etc.,

then the punishment for the employee who committed the misconduct may be mitigated.

Sample characteristic when resolving the issue of recovery

Rise characteristic

In a large organization with extensive hierarchical structure, or in state and municipal bodies, many internal procedures are strictly formalized. For example, exists. A set of documents for each participant in such a reserve includes characteristics. They focus on the qualities of an employee necessary for a candidate for a managerial position: competence, strong-willed, organizational skills, intelligence and authority.

Upgrade Characteristic Sample

Characteristic during certification

The Labor Code does not regulate the procedure for conducting in an organization. However, if such a procedure is planned, it is necessary to draw up a local normative act- Regulations on certification, having approved it by order. The Regulations should contain a list of documents to be submitted attestation commission, including characteristics for the certified employee.

The description should include:

• information about education, advanced training, position, work experience;
• evaluation of the results of work and performance significant projects;
• information about the presence or absence of penalties or rewards.

Sample characteristics during certification

Characteristics in court

In the course of court hearings, characteristics of the defendant (accused) are often attached to the case materials: they can be requested by any participant in the trial, including the employee against whom the case was initiated. Look at the sample characteristics of the driver from the place of work - it has become a circumstance mitigating administrative responsibility (decision of the Davlekanovsky District Court dated 08.23.2010 case No. 12-93 / 2010).

The employer must remember that the document issued by him becomes a kind of testimony, and try to be as accurate and truthful as possible.

Sample characteristic for the court

Use in your work the sample characteristics for an employee from the place of work from the previous section as a template, substituting your own definitions.

This document:

• drawn up on the letterhead of the organization;
• includes personal data of the employee (full name, year of birth, marital status, length of service, position, education, etc.);
• contains a detailed description of business and personal qualities;
• ends with a phrase explaining the purpose of drawing up the document (most often “for submission to the court” or “for presentation at the place of demand”);
• signed by the head of the enterprise;
• certified with a seal (if any).