In a recent survey of UK employees, Gallup found that 61% are “not engaged”. And it gets worse. 20% are “actively disengaged” – showing a vocal and highly negative attitude toward their work and their employer. What a waste of time, energy and life – especially considering the high proportion of our lives spent at work.
An increasing number of organisations including Norwich Union, BAE Systems and Microsoft are recognising the value of using a strengths- based approach to change their organisational culture and get the best from people at work. They recognise that harnessing their employees’ strengths leads to an increased sense of involvement, greater job satisfaction and improved performance.
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As Peter Drucker, eminent writer, educator and consultant said “A person can perform only from strength. One cannot build performance on weaknesses, let alone something one cannot do at all”.
People often aren’t consciously aware of what their strengths are because from childhood we have learned to focus on our weaknesses. And many people are more familiar (and comfortable!) with talking about their weaknesses than their strengths. Whilst addressing our weaknesses is important, once people understand what their strengths are, they can use them to minimise their weaknesses.
Hilary Jeanes of PurpleLine Consulting is one of around 100 people in the UK licensed to use a revolutionary new psychometric tool, Strengthscope©, to help individuals and teams understand where their strengths lie and how to put them to best use – which benefits both the individual and the organisation.
Strengthscope measures a person’s strengths at work and can incorporate feedback from colleagues, enabling individuals to understand the extent to which they are using their strengths in their day to day work. Combined with coaching, Strengthscope can lead to increased levels of self awareness, equipping current and future leaders with the skills they need to develop others and fulfil their roles effectively.
And the benefits?
- Individuals – understand what their strengths are and seek to actively use them at work.
- Managers – know what the strengths of their people are, can actively seek to develop and use them with teams
- Organisations – reap the rewards of improved performance and higher levels of staff retention.
Using our strengths makes us feel energised, fulfilled and confident. We find work easy and fun leading to greater motivation and performance – a compelling reason for businesses to adopt this approach!
