Employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job. That’s just one big finding from decades of Gallup research into human behaviors and strengths. That research has established a compelling connection between strengths and employee engagement in the workplace — a connection that has the power to accelerate performance when companies work on enhancing both simultaneously.
The power of strengths
The best way for people to grow and develop is to identify how they most naturally think, feel, and behave — their talents — then build on those talents to create strengths, or the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance. Gallup has found that building employees’ strengths is a far more effective approach to improving performance than trying to improve weaknesses. When employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged, perform better, and are less likely to leave their company.
The best way for employers to maximize employees’ strengths is through their managers. But what happens when managers choose to ignore their employees or focus on their weaknesses instead?
The Gallup Organization
This survey findings suggests that if every company in America trained its managers to focus on employees’ strengths, the U.S. could easily double the number of engaged employees in the workplace. A supervisor’s approach to strengths has such a profound effect on engagement because managers play a crucial role in maximizing employees’ opportunities to use their strengths every day. Managers can empower employees to discover and develop their strengths and position them in roles where they can do what they do best every day. Gallup concluded that a strengths-based management approach is the best way to improve the employee-manager relationship.
All employees have strengths — the unique combinations of talents, knowledge, skills, and practice that help them do what they do best every day. These strengths provide employees and employers with their greatest opportunities for success. Investing in and focusing on employees’ talents boosts employee and customer engagement, according to Gallup’s research, leading to higher levels of performance, profitability, productivity, and greater earnings per share for businesses.
How Employees' Strengths Make Your Company Stronger. (Susan Sorenson), Business Journal. http://businessjournal.gallup.com
