People who have the opportunity to do what they do best
every day are happier and more successful. A strengthsbased approach to managing talent recognizes the value
of emphasizing strengths and adopts practices that help
employees identify, use and develop their strengths at work.
Identify strengths – The first step in a strengths-based
approach to talent management is to help employees
discover their strengths. Managers can use strengths grid to
identify strengths in their teams.
Use strengths – Once strengths have been identified,
opportunities need to be created for employees to use their
strengths. Selection procedures should focus on hiring
individuals with the particular strengths needed to meet the
organization’s goals. Since jobs are rarely designed based on
an employee’s unique combination of strengths, managers
need to work with employees to modify their roles so that
they make the best use of their strengths. Designing work
in teams can be helpful because tasks can be allocated to
team members on the basis of their strengths. And why not
designate a few hours each week as “strengths time” during
which individuals can work on tasks that don’t fall within
their job descriptions but do advance the company’s goals?
