3 Benefits of Using StrengthsFinder

I have been privileged to work with the Clifton Strengthsfinder since the year 2000. Early on, hardly anyone had heard of it and we did a lot of selling that it was legitimate.  Today, I can tell you that it can really help you or your organization have strong people, strong teams and a strong culture.  Here are three benefits of using strengths finder.

1.  StrengthsFinder Raises Your Self-Awareness

One of the benefits of using StrengthsFinder is that it will raise your self-awareness. The more you know what makes you tick, the more chance you have for success in life.  Have you ever been around people who have no idea how they are impacting others?  Those people don’t seem to be racing ahead in life.

When I was in high school and parts of college, I was pretty clueless about how I impacted other people with my personality.  Strengthsfinder helped me understand what I was good at, and how it could be leveraged in a generative way.  This is something I have seen happen with 1,000′s of people over the past 14 years.

2.  StrengthsFinder Can Raise your Team Awareness and Engagement

If you understand who you are, and you do this in concert with your co-workers or teammates you also can begin to understand how your team can work together.  Sure it is important to raise your own self-awareness, but equally important is to be able to understand how the people around you use their strengths and talents.  Strengthsfinder done in a group setting is a fantastic way to find this information out.

What can this lead to?

People immediately begin asking questions about who should do what based on strengths in the team setting.  You know what happens when this happens?   You can start asking the people with talent in an area to work in areas that they are wired to be super productive in.  You can also stop asking people who are not good at something to apply their talents in an area that they too can be more productive.  This is not easy, but it can be done through hard work and time, and in the end will make your group more productive and engaged – something every company, organization, manager, leader, etc really wants!

“Employees who do not work in strengths areas are only 9% engaged in their jobs vs. 74% engagement levels for people who do work in their strengths. Further, engagement has been proven to substantially increase productivity for the company.” ~ Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie,   

If you are a leader in a company do you want employees who are only 9% engaged or ones that are 74% engaged?  Easy answer there.

3.  StrengthsFinder can Help Your Work be more Meaningful

We spend a ton of our lives working.  Sometimes 50-60 hours per week.  Most of the workforce in the United States would say the majority of their day is not spent using their strengths.  Why is this?  Many companies hire for skills and experience, but lack a way of understanding what talent and strength they are getting through hiring.

When I worked in Washington, DC I did a brief stint as an administrative assistant at a start up company that did litigation communication – public relations for companies that were involved in lawsuits.  I am wired to get things done, Focus and Achiever are two of my top strengths.  Do you know what I did for the majority of my day?  Not much.  I sat and waited for the phone to ring, which it rarely did.

I asked for more to do and was given exciting projects like writing a manual for the fax machine – woo hoo!  Now, I am not saying don’t be faithful with small things, but I needed a job that pushed me.  How can you get in a job where a majority of your day you spend using your strengths?  First, take the StrengthsFinder, or reexamine your results, and start seeing areas where you work that you can apply more of your strengths to.

Your Engagement

Where do you think you fall on your own engagement level at work?  What percentage of your day do you get to spend using your natural abilities?  We would love to hear your story in the comments below.