How to solve your organisation's problems

Imagine going to work every-day in a place where everyone you work with understands that you are unique. Nobody points out what’s wrong with you. Instead you are recognised for your special talents and encouraged to contribute them. It’s a place where everyone’s strengths are seen and valued and opinions and perspectives are respected. Levels of trust are high, communication flows and everyone is working from transparency and openness.

How would it feel? It would be amazing wouldn’t it? You’d feel excited to go to work, full of energy and passion about the day ahead.

Before dismissing this as a pipe dream that will never become a reality, stay with me.

Over the last 17 years working with and within corporate organisations I’ve had over 15 different managers, worked across 7 countries and experienced the impact on businesses as they’ve been gripped in the midst of financial turmoil, team defections, takeovers or mergers. What’s the biggest lesson I learned?

That when companies are underperforming and losing market share it’s a direct result of employee disengagement. When people are disengaged they are unhappy, inefficient, unproductive and lack energy.

This leads to employees leaving and toxic behaviours in the workplace that spell disaster for organisations in more ways than one. In the US alone up to $550 billion is lost every year because of employees that feel disengaged, disempowered and unfilled. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Employee engagement remains the number one priority for organisations worldwide yet year on year it isn't improving.

It's time to do something different. The key to engagement is being able to do what we do best every-day through using our strengths for the benefit of ourselves and others.

You might be wondering about weaknesses. That’s understandable as we are conditioned from a young age to get better at what we’re not good at and later in life scared of revealing them. The wonderful thing about applying your strengths is you learn to embrace your weaknesses, manage them effectively and discover how to collaborate with others who will strengthen you.

The strengths movement is revolutionising the workplace. Organisations who are helping people use their strengths are outperforming their competitors and seeing statistically significant results in productivity, profitability, client satisfaction and employee retention.

You might have heard of some of them - Google, Deloitte, Facebook, Harley Davidson, Wells Fargo, Accenture, BMW, Starbucks, SAB Miller and Stryker to name a few. And in the US the whole of Rhode Island, a population of over 1 million, took the decision to discover their strengths after research found they had the highest levels of disengaged employees of any state.

Here’s a head up though. It’s not a quick fix. It takes time and a long-term, forever commitment to transform your business into a strength-based organisation.

Sound like too much hard work?

Consider the extraordinary results that have already been achieved by the organisations that have taken a strength-based approach. And how some of the future problems that might be facing your business, like how to deal with millennials, attract the best talent, retain your top people, drive innovation and deliver shareholder value can all be addressed by adopting a strengths approach.

So if you’re scratching your head wondering where it’s all going wrong or how to plan for the future to get it right, strengths might just be the answer to your problems.