I’m an avid follower of Harvard Business Review (HBR). I’ve discovered most of my favorite business writers on HBR. Articles by Dorie Clark, Tony Schwartz and Peter Bregman strike a strong professional chord with me. But I recently read a piece by Whitney Johnson that really caught my eye.
Johnson’s article, “Why Talented People Don’t Use Their Strengths” spoke volumes in title alone, but got me thinking about the article’s subject as it relates to employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.
The piece discusses a technology upgrade initiated by the National Football League (NFL) in response to recent and historical headset radio frequency interference and tampering during games (yes, it happens). Without giving away the details of the article, Johnson wrote that the action may never have been taken if the developer’s boss, NFL Chief Information Officer Michelle McKenna-Doyle, hadn’t made a key observation in the NFL front office.
What McKenna-Doyle noticed was that many of her employees “were struggling…not because they weren’t talented,” but “because they weren’t in roles suited to their strengths.”
Eureka! How many stories and statistics have we read about employee engagement and job satisfaction in the workplace? Consider these brief compilations from Access Perks:
- 81% of employees are happier when their jobs effectively make use of their skills/abilities (IBM)
- 49% of employees say their company understands their unique interests and skills (Mercer)
Only 49%? Maybe that’s why 51% of the US workforce is not engaged (Gallup) and only 44% of employees are happy in their current role (Hays).
So how can employers match employees with roles that suit their skill sets?
- According to Johnson, observe people, especially at their best. “Some [employees] will undervalue what they do well and it may be up to you [the employer] to place a value on what they do best.”
- Listen. There may be occasions when employees see an opportunity to lend their expertise for the benefit of the company. Allow them to share their ideas and offer a presentation or test platform to demonstrate it.
- Ask. According to Glenn Leibowitz, good employers will seek advice and input. “They may not always agree with you, but they ask what you think and consider it as an important piece of input into their decision-making process.” Employees are more engaged and satisfied in their work if they feel that their ideas are heard and valued.
But how can disengaged employees pitch the value of their untapped talent to an employer? Author, speaker and solopreneur Dorie Clark—who literally wrote the book on personal branding–offers these tips:
- Network. This is critical both inside and outside your organization, Clark says. If those inside your organization understand the value of your talent, they may be able to offer support in your efforts. Networking with those outside of your organization can show validity in your skills and talents—and provide external references.
- Build your pitch. Showing up and working hard day after day isn’t enough. Others are too consumed by their own work that they may not even notice. Help them connect the dots to your value. Create an elevator pitch that briefly explains what your capabilities are, what training or learning you may have experienced to gain those skills, and explain the value it can bring to the company or organization as a whole.
- Go public. No one will understand your ideas or value unless you share them. LinkedIn is a great platform for publishing content that can bring recognition to your knowledge and build your reputation.
Johnson’s article is testament that employers should hire employees not only based upon their knowledge and ability to fulfill a particular job title, but also to find candidates with other skills and capabilities that may be useful to the organization in a broader sense.
It’s these thought-provoking articles and authors that drew me to HBR in the first place—and given the abundance of corroborating data—why I keep going back.
So thank you to HBR and the NFL for introducing me to another great author and spurring me to share my insight on today’s professional environment.