July | 2012 | CEO People Management

Outstanding managers spend more time developing the strengths of individual team members than they do in correcting weaknesses. They encourage team members to continue to learn and grow rather than just settle for mediocrity. So how can you build on the strengths in your team?

Firstly, consider how you can give them variety in their work. The longer people keep doing the same thing, the less satisfied and engaged they become at work. But here it is important to give them new experiences that they want to experience.

Most people will respond well to new experiences that are consistent with their strengths and interests. Look out for strengths in your team members and ask them about what parts of their work they most enjoy or would like to develop. Sure, with some problem staff, you may need to look very hard to find their strengths, but I assure you they are there. It is just that their strengths are being used in an evil way.

Some people also respond well to challenge, where they are stretching themselves. The research says that about 40% of people generally would like more challenge in their work, but it needs to be challenges they want to take on. How do you find out? You simply ask them. Great managers regularly have discussions with their staff about how they are going at work, strengths and interests they would like to develop, and challenges they would like.

Mentoring is also a great way to help team members to develop. In every team, there are star performers and experienced staff who would be more than happy to mentor others. This not only gives them the feel-goods in helping others but also variety in their work. There are also some advantages to using mentors outside your workplace.

Training programs can also help to build on the strengths in your team. Team members will always benefit more from training in areas they themselves have identified as a need. So consider asking your team what they would like to learn or what challenges they are having that could be addressed in a training program.

So that’s it. Start talking with your team members – offer them variety, encourage their strengths and interests, give them a challenge, and offer mentoring and training opportunities.

Ultimately, your team is only as good as the time and investment you put into them.

Guest Author:

Ken Warren is Australia’s leading speaker on Dealing with Demanding, Aggressive and Unmotivated People. With his engaging, interactive and positive approach, Ken has shown thousands how to turn difficult people around and bring out their best.

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How to attract, retain and develop your talent. A must read for all leaders and managers – if you want to keep your best people away from the head-hunters and weekend papers!

Finding talented people isn’t all that hard. Throw a ‘Start Up’ bonus on top of the attractive salary package and they probably won’t say no. Keeping them… now there’s the challenge. And if you thought the ‘War on Talent’ has already occurred, think again. The job market is hot, and the battle lines have been re-drawn. And as far as your organisation is concerned, the fight is on to retain staff who make up those talented individuals who conservatively add at least 20% to the bottom line.

What makes the difference between employee engagement and disengagement?

Make sure your leaders are serving up ample quantities of ‘The Seven Universal Life Requirements©’. They are a recipe for creating employee fulfillment. These seven requirements underpin our ‘value’ system, and leaders are notoriously bad at making sure their talented people’s ‘emotional bank accounts’ are topped up regularly in these areas. Let me explain.

Success leaves clues, and there are patterns in people’s behaviour. Whilst we are all unique and individual, we are all human beings and therefore instinctively similar. You can basically take all the things people value, desire, need, are motivated by, or driven to achieve, and distill them down into seven universal requirements we need satisfied in order to feel fulfilled as a human being.

The seven universal requirements

Belonging
A sense of belonging is a primal urge and requirement. We all long to feel connected to a family, work group, or to belong to a cause. And, of course, we all require love and affection. As one senior leader of a client organisation put it: “The team needs a bit of a cuddle occasionally!”
Importance
As human beings, we all have a need to feel special and significant to someone. To know that we make a difference and we are ‘worth’ something. This is one of the deepest needs humans experience, and the absence of it causes significant issues for many.
Absolutes
We require some absolutes in our life. We need to be certain we can feed ourselves, pay the mortgage or the rent each month, or know with absolute certainty that our partner loves us. Children love us unconditionally – we absolutely know we make a difference in someone’s life.
Diversity
In an apparently cruel paradox, our creator has decided that whilst we need some things to be absolutes, we will also want some variety. We all have experienced the feeling of boredom if life does not serve up some variety and diversity. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.
Personal development
We all have a fundamental requirement to grow. Some people lose sight of this and then wonder why they don’t feel fulfilled. We were designed to expand, grow, and evolve in terms of our capabilities, knowledge and skills.
Let’s look at people who have started a new career or job. They will tell you they left the old job because they were not growing anymore, and now they feel excited and outside their comfort zone. In essence, their need for diversity is now being fulfilled again and they are growing personally or professionally.
Altruism
This is about making a contribution. We feel more satisfied and fulfilled when we are contributing to someone or something else. We are giving back – a deep instinctive response overlooked by many. A true leader is always contributing to the growth and well-being of their team and therefore making sure that this requirement is met.
Faith
Faith is defined as confidence or trust in something or someone, a belief which is not based on proof. We are not necessarily referring to religion here. For some, this is simply a belief and faith in something bigger. Read any article about why people leave companies and change jobs, and you will frequently hear the feedback “I lost faith in my one-up leader, or the direction the company was moving”.

Note:

The first four are Fundamental requirements: We will do anything to have them satisfied. We will compromise a value in order to get a ‘Universal Requirement’ met.
The last three are deeper Spiritual requirements: They are often missing. People can have the first four met, but without the last three they feel a sense of un-fulfillment, and yet often can’t put their finger on why they feel what they feel.

Rules of thumb in any relationship:

If 2 are met – Connection occurs
If 3 are met – Rapport occurs. They like you.
If 4 are met – They become addicted/they care.
If 6 are met – They forgive mistakes.
If all 7 are met – LOYALTY; The chances of leaving are slim.

Some initiatives to keep your talented people engaged – and saying ‘no’ to the recruitment head-hunters:

Create a career map or pathway – Document a clear career pathway for your people. Include the skills and competencies they will need to develop along the journey. Design some positive consequences in respect to managing the overinflated expectations of Gen Y.
Structured induction training program – Too many companies inadvertently make ‘new starts’ feel like a nuisance. In this time-poor world, many outwardly positive staff send the wrong sub-conscious message: “I have better things to be doing than training you!”. A well structured induction training process is a fast track way to ensure potential talent feels a sense of belonging, connectedness, and of value.
Coaching and mentoring program – Implement a structured ‘coaching and mentoring’ program for your emerging talent. This strategy will build a nice retaining wall around your talented people – despite market offers from your competitors.
Training and development – Implement a targeted training and development program to up-skill the workforce. It will make your staff think: “Thank you for investing in me. I feel like this company values me. I’m growing personally and professionally.”
“Open door” return policy: Promote an ‘open door’ return policy to the valued talent who has succumbed and left the company for greener pastures. Drive from senior levels and have the CEO personally thank them for their contribution to the organisation and inform them of the ‘open door’ return policy.
Based on the ‘Don’t burn your bridges’ motto, the aim here is to make it easy to re-enter the company, if indeed the grass was tougher to chew! Surprise, surprise. Some good people were welcomed home.

Remember the rules of thumb above – serve up all seven requirements and people get addicted and staff loyalty increases to the extent that it will take something rather significant to move them. If all seven needs are being met, why would you ever leave?

In summary, it seems the ‘War on Talent’ will not be won in the trenches, but driven by a well thought out action plan to retain and engage your talent.

Re-examine how well your organisation scores!

Guest Author:

Ian Stephens. Ian is a sales specialist and peak performance coach. He has a passion for the practical, coupled with an ability to inspire and equip people with simple everyday tools they can apply immediately to make more sales and profit.