How Managers Can Understand Employee Strengths

Ask:

• What tasks does this person handle particularly well?
• What problems do they repeatedly solve?
• What do colleagues ask them for help with?
• Where do they demonstrate initiative?

Look at:

• project outcomes
• performance
• customer feedback
• completed work
• improvements made

Self-awareness matters.

An employee may know something about their own capabilities that is not visible to their manager.

Ask:

"Which parts of your work do you feel you contribute most strongly to?"

Strengths become clearer when people receive varied responsibilities.

A manager can give an employee controlled opportunities to:

• lead
• present
• research
• organise
• mentor
• solve problems

The goal is not to permanently label employees.

It is to understand their capabilities well enough to support better development and contribution.