How to Effectively Identify Your Employees’ Strengths

Many managers make the mistake of throwing employees into a role without stopping to consider how they could most effectively benefit the organization. When you’re hiring, it shouldn’t be a “one size fits all” process. It’s important to take time to analyze the individual you’re bringing on board. Fully learn about their strengths and interests in order to utilize them most effectively. Here’s how to do just that:

Ask

Don’t be afraid to come right out and ask your team members about their abilities and passions. In fact, this is often the most effective way to find out about your employees’ strengths. Having a conversation with a staff member about what they view as their best traits shows that you value this information, and want to make sure that these abilities are being utilized most effectively. Your employee will be thrilled to provide you with these details, as doing so will allow them to use their passions and talents more at work.

Look at past experience

Whether it’s past work within your company or with another organization, you can often tell how and when a person shines simply by looking at when they’ve done so before. When did they enjoy major success? What kinds of skills were they using as they worked on these projects? Once you identify this information, you can use it to allow this person to continue to thrive as part of your team.

Observe

It’s important to pay close attention to your employees, particularly if they’re new to the team, in order to get a sense of each individual staff member’s strengths and weaknesses. When you see how people interact in meetings, when collaborating on projects, and when doing presentations, you can more effectively understand the kinds of roles to assign each person in order to allow them to do their best work.

Don’t just see what you want to

Sometimes managers get so caught up in their vision of who an employee should be at work that they lose sight of what that person actually brings to the table. Don’t let this happen to you. Abandon preconceived notions and make it a point to be neutral as you observe, listen, and analyze, allowing you to fully assess where a team member’s strengths lie.

How do you go about identifying your staff members’ biggest strengths? Let us know in the comments!

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