Get Invigorated At Work

Do you see people around you who love what they do and think to yourself what are they doing that I'm not? The answer might lie in harnessing one's strengths.

"Strengths are positive traits that are reflected in people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours, helping individuals to maximise their potential and achieve optimal levels of performance."

When we are working to our strengths our natural abilities shine through, what we are doing feels easy and we generate energy from the process. The assumption if often made that people need to "work on" their weaknesses to improve their performance. When in fact the answer may lie in identifying one's strength, maximising those and finding the role that makes the best use of that person's natural abilities.

Why Assess Our Strengths?

To understand an employees strengths and as such which roles are best suited to their natural abilities systems such as  Strengthscope® are often used as part of the assessment and recruitment processes.

Strengthscope® is a psychometric tool which focuses on identifying what "energises" somebody at work.  The concept is that if people are given the opportunity to do things which they naturally enjoy and for which they have a natural affinity, they are more likely to perform better.

By focusing on harnessing people's strengths (energisers) rather than trying to "fix" their weaknesses, there are more significant returns to be had for both the individual's performance and that of the company.

Implementing tools such as Strengthscope® into the talent identification process helps to identify the right candidates based on the requirements of the job and the individual's natural affinity for specific tasks. This assessment process goes beyond what someone says they like to do, but quantifiably assess it.

But Shouldn't We Try and Improve On Our Weaknesses?

Weaknesses shouldn't be ignored and tools such as Strengthscope® provide an excellent way for identifying 'strengths in overdrive', which equally can be causing conflict and performance issues for the individual and how that individual operates as part of a team. Think of the person who has a lot of drive and ambition but sometimes needs to moderate those natural characteristics to consider other members of the group.

Over-using our strengths can have the same impact as having an undiagnosed weakness with the consequence of negatively impacting work interactions. Having awareness where employees are acting in such a manner can change the way they utilise their strengths.

The Most Uncomfortable Part of the Process...

Strengthscope® includes a 360 feedback element - feedback is given anonymously and can highlight where an individual is having a negative impact on a team or work environment. While this might be confronting for some -  all levels of an organisation can benefit - the results are worth it and can turn team performance around.

This can be an enlightening process for the individuals involved and can be revealing in ways that are unexpected. In sharing this feedback with the individual it's important to focus on the good and the not so good and turn feedback into action steps. Sub-consciously people tend to be aware of some strengths that are in "over-drive" but going through a process like this can be the catalyst for change as sometimes people aren't aware how much of a negative impact their "over-used" strength is having.

How Does Strengthscope® Help Invigorate a Workplace:

• Provides the ability for people to become more aware of their negative strengths
• Opportunity to provide 360-degree feedback
• Opportunity for staff who share the same "negative" strength to collaborate with each other
• Provides people with a detailed view of their effectiveness and how people can be better at using their strengths
• Enables people to feel more energized and invigorated about work
• Grows and enhances leadership skills

Putting It Into Practice:

The most significant challenge is how to move past the uncomfortable process of 360 feedback and focus on harnessing everyone's collective and individual strengths.

Some areas to consider include:

• Incorporate talking about strengths in team meetings and getting people to share and collaborate with each other. Acknowledge everyone's unique strengths and what it brings to the team
• Having this process as part of performance appraisals
• Incorporating output into company culture, so it becomes front and centre
• Considering individuals strengths when forming groups for specific projects or when assigning tasks
• Recruitment / restructure process and putting people into the right roles based on their natural strengths

As with most things incorporating strengths-based testing into an organisation takes time but with the proper planning and support, it can be a great way to unleash hidden talents within people and create a more energised, invigorating workplace.

Talent Tools can arrange for you, your team or organisation to experience Strengthscope®. We provide the reports, facilitate in-house workshops and can even accredit you to do both of these yourself!! Call us to find out more 1800 768 569 or email us now.