As leaders, managers, and trainers, we’re all programmed to want to help our teams do great work. Doing great work starts with helping each employee understand their strengths, and using those strengths to identify their genius zone – where they’ll not only be most productive, but happiest within your company. At a recent Breakfast Club, John Warder shared how the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder® can help your company better maximize the natural strengths of your employees.
By taking the StrengthsFinder®, you can delve into the top five strengths of each of your employees to understand which tasks will come easily to them, and what’s not a great fit. Then, you can assign work to your team based on what motivates them – in other works, what their strengths are. When your employees are successful in their role and enjoy their work, you’ll start to see higher engagement levels, more productivity, and ultimately, increased staff retention.
For example, someone who has strengths like relator, woo or command can be great at developing and maintaining client or vendor relationships. Pushing them to spend their day analyzing data will be frustrating for them, and not maximize their abilities – and likely lead them to leave your company for a role that’s a better fit.
Someone with strengths of analytical, focus and intellection are more likely to align with the operational side of your business. Throwing someone with these skills into a business development role will leave them overwhelmed and unhappy – they’re likely not wired for the constant interaction and competition of a sales role.
So where do you start?
Begin by deploying the StrengthsFinder® to your staff to help them understand more about where their strengths and motivators lie. Then, bring in a strengths coach to help your HR team understand how to best maximize each person’s strengths within their role, and help individuals understand how to leverage their strengths to their advantage while overcoming any weaknesses that may accompany their particular strengths.
To get in touch with John Warder to learn more, reach out to him via email.