Strengths-based development – the link to engagement
At a recent Igniting Performance SpeedTraining Workshop we had an interesting discussion about the place of strengths-based development in organisations. You know the theory – that generally we spend too much time and resources focusing on ‘correcting’ our weaknesses (usually things that we are never going to be that good at anyway), rather than identifying, and then further developing, our true strengths and talents – and finding a way to use these more in our work (and life).
The theory has been debated by many management leaders and authors, and we particularly like Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton’s classic book on the subject: ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’, in which they argue that “the great organisation must not only accommodate the fact that each employee is different, it must capitalize on these differences” . Through their research with Gallup they were able to show that people who strongly agreed with the statement “At work do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?” were far more likely to work in organisations with lower staff turnover, that were more productive and had higher customer satisfaction scores.
Of course, the debate on our workshop partly centred around the fact that in organisations you can’t completely ignore people’s weaknesses. And Buckingham and Clifton would agree – particularly if those weaknesses are job-critical or getting in the way of your strengths.
However, what a focus on strengths does offer is another way to motivate and engage people in difficult times. Management thinker Dave Ulrich, best known for his work on HR transformation, has recently turned his attention to how leaders can make work more meaningful for their teams. In an interview with People Management last year, he explained how people find meaning at work when, amongst other key ingredients, “they have an identity built on an awareness of their own strengths.”
So, in managing performance terms, regular conversations that are focused on valuing, optimising and developing people’s strengths, would seem to be a great place to start in helping people find meaning and engagement in their work.
Here are three simple questions you might want to introduce into your performance and development conversations to provide a strengths-based focus:
- What strengths are you using to help you deliver your objectives?
- What can we do to build your strengths?
- How can we utilise your strengths even more?
Consider the effect on your organisation if you moved just some of your performance and development emphasis onto valuing and developing people’s strengths. And in doing so, helped people answer that simple but powerful question in the positive: “At work do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?”
For more information on our Igniting Performance Speedtraining Workshop, or any of our other workshop or resources, don’t hesitate to contact us!