As leaders, most
of us probably think we know our teams and their capabilities pretty well. We interview with the intent of matching
skills and competencies to job descriptions, and we manage performance based on
employees meeting the requirements of their jobs as described.
And yet, 62% of
employees feel that their skills are often underutilized, according to a survey
by Lee Hecht Harrison, a career transition and talent development consulting
firm.
Employees who do
not have the opportunity to fully use their abilities tend to be bored and/or
unhappy, less productive, and more likely to look for employment elsewhere.
This, in turn, impacts the organization because disengaged employees are not
achieving their full potential. Leaders often contribute to this by failing to
recognize, explore and/or leverage strengths that employees have beyond what
their current role requires.
So how do leaders
discover and unlock the untapped potential on their teams?
In my work using the
Lumina Spark assessment with teams, we’ve been able to demonstrate tremendous
benefits when it comes to finding the “hidden gems” of talent on teams. Lumina
Spark looks at three personas: 1) the Underlying, which is how a person behaves
most naturally; 2) the Everyday, which is how a person shows up at work based
on their role and what’s expected of them; and 3) the Overextended, which is
how someone behaves under stress.
Recognizing the
Underlying persona and identifying the qualities associated with that persona
can reveal some undiscovered talent that may have been dormant because it
wasn’t required in the current work environment. For example, a person may show
a high degree of “imaginative” in their underlying persona but show much less
of that quality in their Everyday persona because in their current role they
work more with facts and data. Now, let’s say the team has stalled in coming up
with a new approach to a particular process or task. Leveraging that team member’s
untapped imaginative quality provides an opportunity to get the team
unstuck. Not only will it help the team, it will help
the individual become more engaged and motivated by having the opportunity to
use a strength that has been idle.
Take a look at
your current team initiatives. What are your goals, challenges, and needs? Are there hidden gems within your team that
could raise your effectiveness in meeting these goals? In addressing some of
your challenges? As an answer to your needs?
Would you recognize
the strengths someone on your team might bring to the table if, in fact, those
strengths seem opposite to their currently recognized strengths and job role
definition? Are you aware of how to find
the power of passion for your individual team members? If you can tap into this, you don’t ever need
to worry about employee engagement.
You can learn the
answers to these and more questions and begin to propel your team forward with
Lumina Spark. Contact me at info-us@luminalearning.com
or 888.827.8855 to learn more.
