How FIT Technologies is Building a Strengths-Based Culture
May 20, 2024
What is a Strengths-Based Culture?
According to Gallup, a Clifton Strengths-based culture identifies and develops employees' natural talents, fostering a work environment where everyone feels appreciated and can contribute their best. This leads to a more engaged workforce, higher productivity, and overall business growth. Don Clifton, a psychologist from Nebraska, devoted his life to researching the distinguishing talents between any two people. His passion was centered around the question, "What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?" He was later was named "the father of strengths-based psychology and the grandfather of positive psychology" by the American Psychological Association.FIT Technologies Journey to a Strengths-Based Culture
FIT’s core values have stood the test of time. We believe in the power of authentic partnerships where people feel trusted, supported and valued – to create an environment where our team, our clients, and IT providers thrive. Empowering our team members to show up every day focused on delivering what they do best inspires our team to deliver on that promise.The Benefits of a Strengths-Based Culture
There are many benefits to adopting a strengths-based culture. Some of the benefits include:- Creating a team environment that provides each employee with an opportunity to do what they do best every day.
- Helping employees bring their personal best to their work and to each other.
- Giving teams a common language to talk about how each person contributes to team success.
- Increasing self-awareness, improving personal and team performance, and enhancing relationships.
Start with Leaders
FIT Technologies invested in their leaders by providing a framework that focused on three keys:- Great coaching starts with the coach
- Given that members of the FIT leadership team were the first to take the assessment, they discovered their own unique superpowers. Start with the basics of strengths focus and point the lens inward.
- Leading with your talents
- Once the team understood the why, we began introducing practical tools for coaching – everything from asking techniques and prompts to journaling and self-reflection guides.
- Coaching a Team on Strengths
- Finally, we guided our leaders from a good to great mindset in the changing landscape of workplaces by harnessing the power of diverse teams, and provided shared visibility through the Gallup Access Portal.
Why a Strengths-Based Culture is Important for Organizations to Consider
A strengths-based culture can be beneficial for organizations in a number of ways. Some of the benefits include:- Workforce retention (attracting and retaining top talent)
- Satisfaction and empowerment of staff
- Developing future leaders with practical tools and framework
TL;DR
- Differences in teams are advantages - chances are 1 in 33 million that any two people's results will match and be in the same order. At FIT, we choose to celebrate and leverage that advantage.
- Leaders need to adapt to the changing landscape of our growing workforce and great coaches start with themselves.
- Organizations that make investments in their teams to understand how they operate naturally instead of trying to fix what doesn't come natural are the real deal.
