A presentation based on Gallup, Inc s research and books; StrengthsFinders 2.0 and Strengths Based Leadership by Don Clifton and Tom Rath

Transcription

1 A presentation based on Gallup, Inc s research and books; StrengthsFinders 2.0 and Strengths Based Leadership by Don Clifton and Tom Rath

2 A NATURALLY RECURRING PATTERN OF Thinking Feeling Behaving The Chances someone else has your exact talents 3

3 87%employees worldwide 68% U.S. employees not engaged at work. These numbers are not improving and corporations are losing upwards of $550 billion dollars in lost revenue dues to disengaged employees*. *Based on 30 years of research with more than 30 million employees, Gallup, Inc. 4

4 A typical company 1/3 actively engaged employees, 50% disengaged 18% actively disengaged Employee engagement is the emotional commitment and personal alignment an employee has to the corporate mission, vision or goals. Engaged workers demonstrate: High level of performance Drive for excellence Desire to step-up and step-out Committed to team and organization success High energy and enthusiasm Disengaged workers: Mediocre performance Lack of enthusiasm Minimal effort No emotional investment Does just enough Actively disengaged workers: Painfully damaging to team and customer experience Unhappy, possibly miserable Undermine others and goals Demoralizing 5

5 When focusing on employee STRENGTHS Leader can realize 99% chance of engagement Compared to 40% When ignoring employee or 22% when focuses on weaknesses Employees would rather receive negative communication than no communication at all Click here to see SLOT Activity 6

6 All strengths can be loosely sorted to four categories; Big Ideas, Starter, Supporting, and Finisher. Employees and leaders can have talents in all categories, but they often find their primary talents in one or two categories. Big Idea (Strategic) Starter (Influencing) Supporter (Relationship) Finisher (Executing) See the big picture, Image the future, Love to learn, Analyze data, Streaming ideas Cheerleaders, Push to get started, Competitive, Easily talk to anyone The glue that holds teams together, Includes everyone, positive, Sees the connections between people and things Organized, Follows the rules, Works until it s finished, Fixer, Strong focus Talents are not really labels They are tools Click here for A Talent Power House Activity 7

7 When managers receive strengths feedback 12.5% more productive 8.9% more profitable People who know and use their strengths and the companies they work for tend to be better performers. In one study of 65,672 employees, Gallup found that those who received strengths feedback had turnover rates that were 14.9% lower than for employees who received no feedback (controlling for job type and tenure). A study of 530 work units with productivity data found that teams with managers who received strengths feedback showed 12.5% greater productivity post intervention than teams with managers who received no feedback. And in a study of 469 business units ranging from retail stores to large manufacturing facilities, Gallup found that units with managers who received strengths feedback showed 8.9% greater profitability post intervention relative to units in which the manager received no feedback. The Secret of Higher Performance by Jim Asplund and Nikki Blacksmith 8

8 YourNextBestStepForward.com Every man, woman and child starts out with natural talents, by investing time, knowledge, skill, and practice, talents become STRENGTHS consistent near perfect performance. Click here to see Power of Strengths Activity 9

9 In a global study of companies that have implemented strengthsbased management practices, 90% of the groups Gallup studied had performance increases at or above the following ranges: 10% to 19% increase in sales 14% to 29% increase in profit 3% to 7% higher customer engagement 6% to 16% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations) 26% to 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations) 9% to 15% increase in engaged employees 22% to 59% fewer safety incidents Click Here to read the full article Click Here for Best of Us Activity 10

10 WHAT MAKES YOU GREAT? Talents reveal themselves as soon as a child has a personality. Sometimes a young talent shows up and looks very much like a weakness. Parents and/or teachers work diligently to stifle the seemingly bad habit and the child learns to bury it. Take for example the child who can t seem to sit still in school, who talks continually regardless of where the teacher moves them. This child receives poor grades and is taught to dis-engage from their natural tendency, to sit quietly, and ignore the amazing gift of Winning Others Over. Later in life, that same talent, if resurrected, might help make a outstanding reporter, speaker, entertainer, sales person, attorney and more. Here are five ways to begin to identify your talents and the talents of those around you, consider Yearning: a magnetic attraction to an activity in your life? A yearning can be described as an internal force, that leads you to a particular activity or environment time and again Rapid learning: a time when your brain seems to turn on. The speed at which you absorb and learn almost feels like you must have know this in another life. Satisfaction: a fabulous challenge that seems to energize you. Timelessness: so engrossed in a project that you lose all track of time. Glimpses of Excellence: times of outstanding performance Click here for the What Makes You Great Activity As a leaders, you may have made the mistake of thinking you need to be good at everything. Many leaders have spent their careers working to prove they have all the answers and trying to do it all. Consider instead that great leaders know their strengths and work to partner with others who can compliment their strengths, this not only delivers real success, it delivers relief from the unrealistic expectations we have put on ourselves. 11

11 YourNextBestStepForward.com Start with talent discovery & discussion 7 activities in the Appendix Shine a light on talents, say it out loud Measure success Strengths Orientation Index in Appendix Complete a Gallup Strengths Assessment at Subscribe for Strengths-Based Leadership News at Add Strengths-Based Leadership to your Leadership Development program 12

12 Appendix Team Scavenger Hunt Activity Power of Strengths Activity Best of Us Activity SLOT Activity (Strengths, Lesser Strengths, Opportunities, Threats) What Makes You Great The Talent Power House Strengths Orientation Index Stand Up PowerPoint Activity (Available on HRFlorida App) 13

13 TEAM SCAVENGER HUNT Activity How to use: The purpose of this activity is fun, interaction and opportunity to uncover and use your team s strengths. This is best used as part of a team meeting or all staff. It can also be used as part of an employee luncheon or classroom training. Time: 10 minutes plus see below Supplies: pens, attached worksheets, clipboards (optional) Goal: The goal of this activity is to build interaction between your team as well as between yourself and your team. The worksheet can later be used as a tool to open conversation during a coaching or one-on-one meeting. It can also be included in a follow-up team meeting or informal connection with employees. How to use this Activity: Identify the amount of time allotted for this activity and adjust the instructions accordingly. My experience with this activity is that the group is determined to wholly complete the scavenger hunt which can get in the way of meeting success unless parameters are set. Small group (3 10 ppl) /10 minutes this should be plenty of time to complete entire list all employees As the number in the group expands, use the above information to adjust. Here s how: Split into groups of 5 7 and run activity among group Add parameters; ex: complete the hunt for 10 ppl in the room (that you don t know very well is a good way to encourage mingling) Instructions: Prior to releasing the group to complete the activity, have each complete the information for themselves this will serve the leader well later. Explain how the group will be split or how many pp to inquire of, share time allotment, let the group move about as they choose it will be interesting for you to see how different people approach this task. Leader should plan to participate Expectations: This is a fairly non-threatening activity and I have seen it be very successful. There will be a lot of conversation, laughter and even groups informally forming to work together. Some people will ask all questions of one person at a time and others will ask a full table of people one question at a time. There is no right or wrong way. What to do with this information: After the activity, during the meeting: ask people to share something interesting that they learned about a coworker Depending on what your meeting is about it could serve a more significant role but at the very least it is a good ice breaker Ask all employees to save their paper and bring it to the next team meeting. Next team meeting: Choose a specific question on the chart and ask each person to share with the team their answer and how it might relate to the work they currently do or would like to do. OR ask each person to share someone else s answer and how they might be able to use that at work. Again, there are no right or wrong answers everything will not be enlightening, but it may make a difference in how your team interacts or achieves success. In a one-on-one meeting: Choose a question or two to discuss there is no pressure, but an employee s dream job might be a good conversation starter for their career path. The best way to celebrate is a good conversation starter for how the employee likes to be recognized. Untapped skill is a good way to identify resources at your disposal. And so on. 14

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15 The Power of Strengths Activity The Power of Strengths activity is fun and easy to conduct. It will be remembered well into the future. Goal of this Activity: This activity is all about awareness. The purpose is to begin a discussion of talents, gifts and strengths with teams, leadership or board of directors. In addition, it will put clarity and power behind the improved productivity and efficiency that comes with focusing on talents. Supplies: Paper and pens How to use this Activity: No team pre-work is required Use this as a meeting opener Use this as a main topic discussion starter Instructions: Ensure each participant has paper and pencil. Participants should not start until full instruction (1 st ½ of activity) are complete Each person will write three times, I am more productive when I use my talents with non-dominant hand Leader tracks the time it takes for the full group to complete the activity. Write down the comments made during the activity. Without any discussion, continue the activity. Participants to write the same sentence three times with dominant hand Leader again tracks the time it takes for full group to complete the activity. Write down the comments made during the activity. Activity Review: Discuss the activity findings in group discussion Speed/productivity: How much longer does it take to complete an activity when working with your non-dominant hand? Comfort: How much talking? Was it with 1 st or 2 nd or both? More questions come when uncertainty, discomfort, and embarrassment Quality: What is the quality of the work done with one vs the other? Share observations Working with Non-dominant hand is like working outside of talents or strengths Working outside talents Takes longer Sloppy Questioning Uncomfortable Uncertainty Missed deadline Working within talents Quick Cleaner & clearer Few questions Easy Confident On time Further Discussion: Consider when you started writing, you chose the hand that was most comfortable and practiced, practiced, practiced to learn how to write fluently. Today, it takes very little effort. Talents are exactly the same, choose what is comfortable and practice. Follow-Up Leaders can use the SLOT Activity for one-on-one follow up with employees 16

16 The Best of Us team activity The Best of Us activity is easy to use and can help team members and leaders to appreciate how people think, feel, and behave differently, how they like to work, what they dislike, and what they appreciate most. Goal of this activity: This activity is all about the long term, the purpose is to gather information that will help build better relationships and reasonable expectations among team members. Team members will use this to understand their team mates and their leader better. Leaders will use this to understand each team member as an individual and how to help them flourish within the setting they prefer. See the next page for help on how to use the information gathered. How to use this activity: Print blank The Best of Us activity page Distribute to the team at least 5 days prior to the meeting Include instructions that asks each participant to mindfully consider and complete the worksheet over the next 5 days and bring the completed copy to the upcoming meeting Thoughtfully consider how to use this activity to get the best results Print multiple copies of the blank worksheet, add each employees name to a sheet and take notes for each this will be a valuable resource Leaders should plan to fully participate - share your own information at the meeting Planning for the meeting: How you approach this activity has a lot to do with how interactive your group is, how much time is allotted, and your desired outcomes. Encourage people to take notes and gain as much information as possible on team mates As an opener: Simply ask each person to share one thing from the 1 st box You get the best of me. Use the worksheet over and over in upcoming meetings to continually gather good information about the team members. As a team discussion (open and trusting group): If the group has been together for a fair amount of time and are a fairly open team, you can most likely launch right into a full group discussion. Ask each person to share one or two items from their 1 st box. As each person shares, you might discuss how that person s specific items influence the team. Continue through the worksheet on same day or in follow-up meetings.* A quiet, doubtful group: Groups can be doubtful for different reasons, the team may have a number of new people who have not found their fit, the leader might be new or a bad situation has caused distrust. It doesn t matter the reason, but the best way to start with a group like this might be to break into teams of 2 4 and allow team members to first share among small groups before sharing in the large group. To move into large group discussions, you can ask people to share what they learned about their team mates. This is much less threatening and builds trust. As time goes on and team members are familiar with the activity, you may be able to simply launch into group discussion. Other ideas: Give each team member a large piece of paper, team them up in pairs Team member one shares their insights while team member two records it on the large scale drawing of The Best of Me, when finished, flip roles. These can be discussed later in larger groups and can be hung in offices to remind all who approach how to get the best from that person. *Stay committed to completing any activities once they are started, even if it seems employees are not interested. Abandoning the activity will send the wrong message. 17

17 Leader s Sheet What you might learn How someone prefers to or prefers not to: ~Work ~Interact ~Socialize ~Be Recognized ~Lead ~Learn ~Create ~Receive Assignments ~Receive Feedback ~Set goals ~Research ~Prepare for the Future ~Process Information When someone is at their best or not: ~Hours ~Team Size ~Project Type ~Rules ~Flexibility ~Autonomy ~Workload ~Priorities What someone needs or doesn t need: ~Direction ~Autonomy ~Praise ~Regular Feedback ~Little Feedback ~Small Talk ~Interaction ~Movement How you might use this information Consider preferences when creating: ~Work Assignments ~Schedules ~Team Meetings ~One on One Meetings ~Lead Assignments ~Project Assignments ~Team Recognition ~Individual Recognition ~Learning Opportunities ~Delegating ~Reviews ~Setting Goals ~Aligning Expectations New concepts might look like: ~Job Crafting ~Flexible Schedules ~Outside Learning ~Cross Training ~Individual Goals ~Telecommute ~Project Assignments ~Recognition Programs ~Career Development ~Coaching What you might learn How someone works or doesn t work: ~Work until the job is done ~Flexible ~Conscientious ~Best Under Pressure ~Fast Paced ~Slow and Steady ~Digs for Root Cause ~Digs for Solution ~Discovers Problems ~See New Ways ~Thrives on Change ~Make Good Things Great ~Fix it What someone values or considers important ~Accuracy ~Consistency ~Rules ~Customer Care ~Timeliness ~Integrity ~Trust ~Honesty ~Equality ~Communication ~Friends ~Collaboration ~Positivity ~Inclusiveness ~Social Activities How you might use this information Consider preferences when creating: ~Work Assignments ~Schedules ~Team Meetings ~One on One Meetings ~Lead Assignments ~Project Assignments ~Team Recognition ~Individual Recognition ~Learning Opportunities ~Delegating ~Reviews ~Setting Goals ~Coaching ~Aligning Expectations New concepts might look like: ~Job Crafting ~Flexible Schedules ~Outside Learning ~Cross Training ~Individual Goals ~Telecommute ~Project Assignments ~Recognition Programs ~Career Development ~Coaching 18

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19 Your Perfect SLOT where you fit best Your Perfect SLOT activity used is to start or continue a meaningful conversation regarding talents and/or work preferences. It can also be used in conjunction with annual reviews to start a conversation regarding upcoming year s goals What this should not be used for: This activity should not be used as a tool to uncover and discuss weaknesses with employees. - see more in instructions below Time: see below Supplies: none other than attached form and time for one-on-one discussions Goal: The goal of this activity is to begin to understand what the employee sees as their strengths and lesser strengths as well as their opportunities to achieve more and the threats that get in the way of their productivity. As a leader, your goal is to understand the employee better and to work to assign tasks and objectives that fit best within their strengths, to identify opportunities for growth and how feedback or work situations may be effecting an employees efficiency. How to use this Activity: Provide the attached form to all employees, 7 10 days prior to scheduled one-on-one conversations. Schedule one-on-one conversations with each employee (do not cancel these for any reason) if they take the time to do this and the meeting is canceled, it sends a message of unimportance. Expectations: If this is the first time conducting personal conversations, understand that impact will be minimal, but continued conversations like this will build trust and will reap better returns. During the one-on-one conversation: These conversations will vary based on employees comfort and personality style. Some will open up and speak freely while others will be timid and share very little. The leaders commitment to this will pay off don t give up. Explain the purpose of the conversation to get to know them better. To understand their preferences and work style, preferred types of work and how they work best. To identify ways to help them stay happy/satisfied in their work Ask questions regarding Strengths and Opportunities first Threats and Lesser Strengths fall into the same bucket, ask What gets in your way? What frustrates you? What is most difficult for you? STRENGTHS Knowing this allows the leader to use the employees talents best. The more the employee works within their talents, the more productive, efficient and engaged they are LESSER STRENGTHS Understanding what does not come easy or what may take one employee longer to accomplish, allows the leader to align employees for best productivity OPPORTUNITIES Development is just one way to help keep employees engaged understand their desires Uncover untapped resources within your employees THREATS Good intentions, lack of recognition, and motivation may be getting in the way of employee productivity know how employee like to work and receive feedback 20 20

20 Your Perfect SLOT where you fit best Instructions: In the colored boxes below the graphic, add your specific answers to the questions above that graphic. This will not be seen by anyone but will be used to spur conversation. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your candid thoughts. STRENGTHS What do you do well? What comes easy to you? What do you enjoy doing? What makes the time fly? What skills are you proud of? LESSER STRENGTHS What do you find difficult? What do you prefer not to do? What gets in your way? What do you dread doing? OPPORTUNITIES What would you like to learn or try? What can you already do that is not being utilized? What would you like to do more of? What do you need to be more efficient? THREATS What holds you back? What gets in your way? What turns you off? What frustrates you? What limits your productivity? 21

21 What Makes You Great? Activity What Makes You Great Activity is another activity to help team members discover their talents. I prefer to use it in a one-on-one meeting, but it could also be used as part of a team meeting. Goal: The goal of this activity is to gather and provide more information to the individual and to the leader regarding individual team members talents. Supplies: Handout only and pen How to use this Activity: Provide the attached handout to team members with instructions and due date Schedule team meeting or individual meetings Use this piece as a conversation starter and a way to get a deeper understanding of how employees think, feel and behave naturally Take good notes and make sure everyone has a chance to share Listen for small pieces of information that might make a difference in how this person functions on the team. Adding this information with past information will build a good understanding of team members If using this in a team meeting, worksheets should be completed prior to meeting it will not be effective to complete the worksheet as part of a team meeting. 22

22 What Makes You Great? Spend some time considering the questions with in piece write down whatever comes to mind

23 The Talent Power House Activity The Talent Power House activity will be most successful if employees have a beginning feel for their talents. This activity takes your strengths discovery to the next level and will help you as a leader begin to determine how you might pair up teammates or pull together project teams for the best results and productivity. Keep in mind the categories do not define people, they define talents; they are not labels, they are tools. Goal of this Activity: To further understand where employees do their best work. What comes easily and naturally to them. To identify the talent power of the team. Supplies: Visual aid to describe four categories of talents Stand up PowerPoint Slides (if not already used with the group) Four blank flip chart pages and tape to hang on walls Markers How to use this Activity: Become comfortable with the four categories and the talents that are displayed in each, no one person is capable of all the talents, that s why a team is so powerful. There is not one talent that is better than the other, they are all critical in a team s success Create a visual to outline the attributes of each category Instructions: Hang up the four blank flip chart pages and label each with the category headings Use the Stand up PowerPoint slides to help employees connect to talent differences Present the four categories to the team with good explanations of each Ask each team member to write their name on the one (or two) labeled flip chart pages that they best relate to Facilitate a discussion regarding how they might feel enlightened by the information and how this information might be helpful to the team Activity Review Questions: What did this information reveal about you? What does this information help you to celebrate about you? How have you seen this be true in your personal or professional life? How is this information important to us as a team? How might we use it to be more effective or productive? How can we use this in small ways? How can we use this in big ways? How has this information enlightened you about someone else on our team? Follow Up See the following pages for ways a leader might use the information gathered Using the visual created for categories, hang them up where employees can see them, add each person s name to the category they identified with 24

24 Using the Right Talent for Job Leader s Sheet People with strong Big Idea talents might help: People with strong Starter talents might help: ~ Challenge the status quo ~ See future trends ~ Analyze data to discover solution ~ Brainstorm new ideas ~ See breakdowns in processes ~ Research ~ Stay focused ~ Keep projects cutting edge ~ Create strategic plans ~ Bring excitement to a project ~ Push to start or launch ~ Communicate with conviction ~ Challenge a group to go farther and be better ~ Engage the team cheerleader ~ Bring a can do attitude ~ Lead with confidence ~ Move quickly ~ Find the right contributors People with strong Supporting talents might help: People with strong Finisher talents can help: ~ Grasp how the team fits together ~ Include everyone ~ Offer flexibility ~ Ensure all have what they need ~ Instill harmony ~ Feel for customer pain or pleasure ~ With positive environment ~ Imparting each person s value ~ Train others ~ See a project to completion ~ Align pieces or streamline process ~ Focus efforts ~ With accuracy ~ Keep things organized and on task ~ Follow or design policy and procedure ~ Find root causes and fix them 25

25 Strengths Orientation Index If you are serious about focusing less on weaknesses and more on strengths to tap into the $550 billion dollars lost to poor productivity every year, try adding a strengths measurements to your existing measurement index or create one using a simple survey tool. The four questions below have been created and tested by Gallup, Inc. 1. Every week, I set goals and expectations based on my strengths. 2. I can name the strengths of five people I work with. 3. In the last three months, my supervisor and I have had a meaningful discussion about my strengths. 4. My organization is committed to building the strengths of each associate. Click here to read the full article 26