One of the central responsibilities of the managers and leaders in any organization is making decisions on behalf of the employees. This involves defining the problem as well as identifying the factors that are related to it. This enables the mangers to create a clear understanding of what should be done as well as the alternative choices that are available. Purpose and objectives are amongst the most important aspects of any decision. This has more to do with identifying the motivation behind any decision made rather than the outcome of the decision.
Developing the strengths and skills of the employees is one philosophy of management which supports the conventional thinking (Clifton & Harter, 2003). It is important that managers should develop the employees’ ways of making their own decisions for proper running of the company. In an example scenario of employees with different strengths, there is a case of complaints from customer on service delivery. Many customers complain of slow response to queries and poor services.
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There is one case involving a senior supervisor with the best qualities of responsibility, self assurance and strategist. He possesses great confidence. He is self driven and takes personal initiative to make most of decisions when caught in situations needing urgent attention. However, most of the times, he does not give room for any discussions and instead his thoughts come as final and done. In the above explained scenario, this employee should sort to find first hand information from the customers as well as more information from other employees. With this information, he would have a clear and better understanding of why things are the way they are and what to do to ensure quality service.
On another scenario, there is another supervisor who is a great learner, a team player, good listener and empathetic. She makes people to feel like they are part of the team. She makes decisions after hearing thoughts from other people including from management. Even so, her democratic nature allows other employees to take advantage of her. On the same case of customer complaints on service delivery, this employee would seek thoughts from other employees. Since it is a matter of urgency, the employee would engage the management on better ways to improve their services.
There are several ways a manager can help employees with different strengths to develop their skills. First, the manager should identify what makes the employees stand out and then mention the strengths. The manager should not assume that the employees know their strengths. It is important that the manager should meet the employees and discuss with them their strengths as well as sharing with them how such strengths can be useful in the company (Mansfield, 1996). Employees who exhibit strength in leadership can be assigned leadership position when team works are given. This way, they would be able to put their leadership skills into practice. The managers can also organize leadership training for employees who exhibit leadership skills so that they can their strengths can be developed.
Employees who exhibit strengths in communication should be assigned responsibilities of representing the company to the outside world as well as getting assigned to the responsibilities in which communication is highly desirable. This would help the employees to continue putting their strength into practice. Positivism is another great strength that employees can exhibit in a company. Managers can help employees who show positivism to develop their skills. Such employees should be promoted to higher posts as a way of encouragement for their positive culture. This type of employees would not stand seeing something being done wrongly but instead they would always come in to assist other employees. In a scenario in a company, there was an employee who was always positive with any task given and would do any job assigned so good that she always received praises from management and other employees. This lady who only served as a sales representative was promoted to the position of marketing manager, a position she used so well to encourage the other employees to be positive with their work.
Managers should focus more on the strengths of their employees but also identify their weaknesses. Ignoring the strength of the employees robs the company of growth which could otherwise be achieved by developing the strengths of the employees and putting the strengths into practice (Rego et al., 2012). How managers focus on the strengths of their employees would determine the employees’ response towards their strengths and weaknesses. Managers and supervisors who help their employees to develop their strengths usually experience the greatest benefits. Placing employees on roles that corresponds with their strengths is the best way of helping the employees to develop their skills (Luthans, 2002). Another way of developing these attributes is to challenge the employees in their areas of strength. In order to achieve this, the manager should be able to get them resources and materials which meet the challenge given.
Lastly, the manager should check frequently to see how well they are performing and to provide some coaching even if the coaching is informal. The managers should encourage them and see them pass the challenge. This helps in stretching the strengths of employees and reaching a notch higher in their performances. Success comes easily to those who work on their areas of strength. Acknowledging these strengths through verbal praise and glowing feedback especially in front of others is a great motivational tool to the employees. Rewarding such employees as well as positive acknowledgement signals the brain to continue working in the same way that earned them praise
References
Clifton, D. O., & Harter, J. K. (2003). Investing in strengths. Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline , 111-121.
Luthans, F. (2002). Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing psychological strengths. The Academy of Management Executive , 16 (1), 57-72.
Mansfield, R. S. (1996). Building competency models: Approaches for HR professionals. Human Resource Management (1986-1998) , 35 (1), 7.
Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & e Cunha, M. P. (2012). Authentic leadership promoting employees' psychological capital and creativity. Journal of Business Research , 65 (3), 429-437.
