You have carefully handpicked an exciting, talented workforce, so why aren’t they taking your business to success? You might have the most gifted team in the world, but if they aren’t allowing their strengths to shine, this could spell trouble for your business. It may feel as though all hope is lost, but there are a few secrets you can use that will turn your team into an unstoppable powerhouse.
Identify Their Individual Strengths
Lots of employers try to engage their team’s strengths without first knowing what they are. This can often make them feel as though they are at a loss with how to work with their team, despite each person holding some valuable attributes. With every employee, make sure you define what their strengths are, before finding out how these ideals work within a group.
One of the most popular ways of doing this is by carrying out a personality test. You can do this during the interview process for new employees, or with small assessments for current employees. In any case, make a note of the results for future use. Over time, you will begin to see how certain employee’s strengths complement others’ strengths. Encouraging self-awareness means workers can engage their strengths with little intervention. More on strengths-based leadership can be found on HIGH5’s website.
Build These Strengths with Training
Intuitive employers will be able to see the potential in every one of their workers, especially if they have unrivaled talents. If these talents are left unnurtured, any chance of progression goes out the window. Luckily, this is easily tackled by holding regular training sessions. This doesn’t mean your traditional training. With millennials expected to make up 75% of the national workforce by 2025, modern twists on training are the best way of building on your team’s strengths.
Millennial or not, mobile training is excellent for keeping your workforce up to date with technology. Younger employees may take comfort training on a device they are comfortable with. Smaller businesses could find that personalized training programs allow them to reap more benefits.
Improve Communication Skills
Everything your employees will have learned in their lives is geared towards helping them communicate with the world. The problem is that there are various issues that can get in the way of communicating in a work environment. Anxiety, low confidence, and disorganization are all factors. Improving these will also improve how your employees communicate.
Those suffering from low confidence can benefit from practicing confidence-building habits, and almost everyone finds it easier to communicate in a friendly workplace. There is also the practical element of keeping communication open across various platforms. Personal exchanges, emailing, and even instant messaging are all ways employees can use to interact. These tools are particularly useful if you have a large remote working team you need to draw strengths from.
Make Teamwork a Priority
Having a supremely talented team is a brilliant start, but these strengths are nothing if they can’t be used in a team. It is widely accepted that teamwork is vital for success. This means working towards a united team should be a priority in your office. Once you have mastered effective communication, this becomes much easier. Yet, there are a few more steps you must take.
Firstly, planning work outings is a fun way of bringing your team together. When they get along, there is a wholesome motivation behind them combining their personal strengths at work. Classic ideas like team building exercises are also important. This will help you identify who works well together in stressful scenarios, but it also shows your employees how to apply these skills in a practical environment.
Praise Their Successes
When you are a company that chases after high targets and reaching sales figures, success is easy to spot on the horizon. However, this can sometimes come at the expense of employee satisfaction. If your team feels as though their strengths are not being encouraged, they may not see the incentive to put them to good use. Even if your oversights are not deliberate, they can still have lasting effects, and you could see your workforce begin to disengage.
The solution to this is simple. If your employee does a great job, tell them. If they have smashed targets, reward them. If they are a joy to work with, let them know. When they see that their hard work is being appreciated, enthusiasm and determination will follow.
Show Them You Care
In a world increasingly defined by the mental health epidemic, it is no surprise that numerous workplaces are beginning to suffer. Unfortunately, many workers don’t feel as though their employer cares about their wellbeing. If you take an alternative approach, they are far more likely to engage with their strengths.
Listening to your employees’ concerns can be difficult when you are working with a large team, but it is not impossible. Taking just a few minutes out of each day to engage with your team is more than enough time. Here’s the best thing about workplace wellbeing: even the smallest changes can help. For example, giving them a safe workplace can prevent injuries, whereas hiring an internal counselor enables you to keep their stress levels low.
