With contemporary approaches to business changing the corporate landscape and revolutionizing the way things are done on a professional level, strength-based employee development is the new buzz.
While the traditional approaches focus on identifying the loopholes and working on improving upon employee weaknesses, the strength-based approach believes in capitalizing on employee strengths.
According to Gallup, 67% of engaged employees reported that their managers focused on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.
Furthermore, 90% of the workgroups that were studied by Gallop reports a 9–15% increase in employee engagement, 3–7% increased customer engagement and 10–19% increase in overall sales.
For small-business owners, human capital is their biggest asset. Managing and developing their employees can benefit them in unimaginable ways. Let’s delve deeper into how they help set businesses apart from their competitors.
Helps Drive Operational Efficiencies and Promotes Business Growth
Gallup’s 2015 Strengths Meta-Analysis concluded that strength-based development is closely linked to key performance outcomes that drive business growth and development. Such concrete numbers are sure to convince any small business manager to incorporate this approach into their business strategy.
A strength-based approach gives organizations a competitive edge as they are geared towards developing individual employee strengths rather than bringing employees to set a benchmark. This promotes cross-cultural diversity and eliminates personality clashes and complexes.
With everyone excelling at what they’re good at, a strength-based approach brings out the best in everyone.
Source of Motivation
When employees are acknowledged for their contributions and value-addition to the organization, they feel important.
This in turn intrinsically motivates them to test their limits and set even higher standards for themselves.
Nobody is perfect in everything they do; but when the focus is on employee strengths, they tend to be filled with a renewed level of energy that serves as their driving force to outdo their competitors.
Millennial are hardwired to work in an environment where they are appreciated and empowered, rather than following a set of predefined rules and regulations.
Increasing Awareness about Employee Strengths Helps in Itself
The right approach towards crafting a proper strength-based employee development program begins with enlightening yourself.
Being oblivious to your team’s strengths may lead to directing efforts in the wrong direction. Hence, it becomes imperative that you make your employees go through a talent assessment test to gauge their strengths so that they can be capitalized upon. It will also increase their self-awareness and help them perform better in the workplace.
It has been studied that employees who have a greater level of self-awareness, tend to be more engaged and productive. Employee productivity levels rise by 7.8%, simply when employees learn about their strong points. Strength-focused teams tend to be 12.5% more productive.
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