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Work With Strengths To Enhance Organizational Happiness Index

Forbes Human Resources Council

VP & People Lead, Asia, S&P Global, driving innovation and growth through people-first approach.

“What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than what is wrong with them?”— Don Clifton, American psychologist and creator of Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment 

Identifying and working with your strengths is a passport to greatness and well-being. Fifteen years and more than a thousand individual and group interventions as a strengths coach have made my convictions about the strengths philosophy even stronger. All around us, there are examples of people who have used their natural strengths to achieve their aspirations. The best part is that their journey of success has been as gratifying as reaching their goal destination.

The concept of being “in the zone” describes those individuals who play to their strengths to achieve their goals. This has important implications for the organizations. Imagine the engagement and output of the organization if each employee is “in the zone” or gets to use their strengths at work every day. Gallup research found a direct correlation with higher levels of performance, profitability and productivity for employees who use their strengths at work. Let’s explore the strengths philosophy and how firms can embrace it to enhance the happiness index of their employees.

The Social And Organizational Paradox Of Weakness Fixing

As a society, we are trained to look at what needs to be fixed in ourselves rather than what we do intrinsically well. We assume that success entails sacrifices and extreme efforts. This can be best explained by the example of “report card syndrome.” When a child brings home the exam report card, parents invariably focus more on the subjects that have low scores and want those improved. Parents train the child to focus on the subjects in which they are weak rather than those where they have innate talent and are doing well. In some extreme cases, this undue stress on weakness fixing could make the child dislike report cards and learning altogether.

The same stands true for organizations. Firms invest millions of dollars in training for their employees to improve their “areas of opportunity” or “skill gap.” At best, the employees improve and reach an average level in their area of weakness after putting in a lot of effort with minimal ROI. This is not development but damage control. An employee with low communication skills becomes an average speaker after putting in disproportionate efforts and dreads to go to the office due to communication training programs. Marcus Buckingham, author of Now, Discover Your Strengths, argues, “Each person’s greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength.” You should work around your weakness but the most rapid growth and satisfaction come when you use your innate talents.

Anyone Can Learn To Be Competent In Anything...Really?

Anthropologists have struggled to explain the root of innate talent as a cause-effect theory, hereditary or by-product of one’s environment. However, one thing is apparent: Each person’s talent is unique and enduring. Roger Federer has legendary talent in tennis but however hard he tries, it’s unlikely he could become the Sachin Tendulkar of cricket. And I can become neither of them in spite of my immense love for tennis and cricket without the required natural talent. This is true for sports as well as for businesses. Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0 explains that it’s a misguided maxim that you can be anything you want to be if you just try hard enough: “You cannot be anything you want to be — but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

To identify your strengths, it’s important to understand the interplay between knowledge (information/context /self-awareness), skills (ability to apply knowledge gainfully), talent (recurring pattern of skills) and strengths (consistent near-perfect performance of skills). Talent, skill and knowledge are the building blocks of strengths. However, innate talent always supersedes the other two as it is natural and cannot be acquired. For example, to become a fighter pilot, you can learn the rules of flying (knowledge), you can be trained to navigate the instruments and you can practice making landings and take-offs (skills), but it takes innate ability to make split-second decisions to engage or withdraw under enemy fire. This ability is naturally occurring and cannot be learned. Watch Australia’s first female fighter pilot in action.

People Processes Are The Foundation Of Building A Strengths-Based Organization

Organizations should develop strengths-based policies and practices that span the employee lifecycle and guide the attraction, engagement and retention of talent. Here’s how:

Inspire a common strengths language and help employees and managers discover their strengths. People can identify their strengths when they think about their biggest successes and the common themes underlying them. There are many tools that can help you get the common strengths themes. Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment is a popular one.

Build the right fit in terms of strengths-based selection and retention. Strengths-based selection considers candidates’ innate talents, acquired skills, gained experience and learned knowledge. A workplace culture that encourages employees to leverage their talent is a strong factor of retention. 

Encourage performance management discussions with positive affirmations. Receiving positive affirmation is a powerful way for us to grow, particularly when it comes in the form of stories describing moments when we are at our best.

Institutionalize strengths-based development. HBR suggests five practices for noticing and capitalizing on everyday opportunities for development. The greatest growth happens when we are on a good-to-great journey.

Gallup reports that people who have the opportunity to use their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and report improved well-being. This boosts the happiness index of the organization by enhancing the well-being and productivity of the employees. Diversity in employee’s strengths further bolsters the chances of the organization to outperform in the marketplace.


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