Growing Employees’ Strengths

“The great organization must not only accommodate the fact that each employee is different, it must capitalize on these differences.” So says The Strengths Revolution, a book by Marcus Buckingham and David O. Clifton.
 
When an organization plays to the strengths of each individual employee, say the authors—citing extensive research from the Gallup organization (http://huff.to/1BW9MsT)—it dramatically outperforms its peers. However, on a global basis, only 20 percent of surveyed employees of large organizations feel they use their strengths every day. Worse yet, the longer employees stay and the more they advance, the less likely they are to strongly agree their strengths are in play.
 
To break the pattern, Buckingham and Clifton advise, follow the “two assumptions that guide the world’s best managers”:
 

1. Each person’s talents are enduring and unique.
2. Each person is most apt to grow in the area of their greatest strengths.

 
Though this may seem intuitive, most organizations do the opposite—mandating cookie cutter work styles and promoting people based on improvement in acquired skills.
 
We want to hear: Do you feel your organization understands your strengths and tailors your role to maximize them? Do you do this for your employees? We’d love to hear examples. To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

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