Everything you need to know about workplace strengths development in one place
Fully engaged, more effective teams. Efficient organisation. And proven business results. The Strengths approach is one of the most exciting new frontiers for business growth today. It’s proven to boost employee engagement by 15%, engaging more customers by 7%, leading to 29% higher profits – not to mention a 72% boost in staff retention.
Our team’s building the ultimate overview of the strengths approach to business, and we’re continuously adding to this overview. Find out: What are strengths and why a strengths focus is so important in the workplace. Discover the list of key strengths of employees and how to develop them for max company growth. Plus: Discover the ultimate in strengths coaching and strengths-based development for your company.

WHAT ARE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES?
The new “right” answer to what are your strengths and weaknesses? No weaknesses, just strengths. Discover the groundbreaking research and development that lead to the strength-based system that’s allowed 49 000 business units across 45 countries boost their engagement and ultimately profits by 29%. And, see how you can start using the same ingenuity to grow your business today. See our feature on What are strengths.

WHY ARE STRENGTHS IMPORTANT IN THE WORKPLACE?
Some of the most shocking new research around employee engagement, behaviour and performance can be directly tied to organisational structure, which is what the strengths approach addresses immediately. Would you believe that this new study shows that only 16% of employees are fully engaged at work?

That means 84% of people are unhappy and underperforming, costing SA businesses upwards from R89 billion per year. What’s more, a separate study shows that 9 out of 10 employees start a job fully willing to quit in the first month – costing companies even more in staff retention and turnover. Discover the full grim picture in this study around why and how new employees quit.

And then, take a breath and remember that we’ve a proven solution, shown to boost staff retention by 72% and fully engage more employees to boost profits by 29% in a few months – unlock our strengths-based development for your business.
LIST OF KEY STRENGTHS: CLIFTON STRENGTHS FOR EMPLOYEES
From strategic thinking and influencing to relationship building and executing big ideas. There is a complete list of strengths that every business needs in the optimal mix among its people to grow and thrive. We’ve compiled all 34 of the recognised Clifton Strengths, in their four main domains, for easy reference, with a description on each. Check out the list of strengths.

THE 4 DOMAINS OF STRENGTHS
To make understanding how strengths feed into each other and benefit your business, they’re divided into four domains, which make their benefits pretty clear. Discover the 4 domains of strengths:
Strategic Thinking
People with strengths in Strategic Thinking are what you need to envision and realise your business’s future potential. They are able to absorb and analyse huge quantities of information to make informed decisions about where you should be going.

Strategic thinkers are analytical but also future-focused, keeping your team’s eyes on what could be. When you need big ideas and problems to be solved, these are the skills you want.
Discover the strategic thinking strengths domain.
Relationship Building
Although we tend to think of the employees in our businesses as a collective – our people, our staff. It’s important to remember that the team is still made up of individuals. And each individual’s drive and performance is what propels the entire team forward in the end.

Relationship Builders know this instinctively. They are the ones who bind together people to turn them into high-performing teams. And they do it, largely, with skills that may have been neglected in the business world of the past – they actually care. Possibly one of the most overlooked skill sets in business today, being authentic and relatable is turning out to be more valuable than intellect in business in the 21st century.
Discover the relationship building strengths domain.
Influencing
Purpose, energy, passion – your influencers have the power to motivate and inspire people to change. Think about the tech CEO introducing the latest world-changing product, or the person who’s TED Talk drives everyone to start looking for a better tomorrow. That’s your influencer.

People with influencing skills are driven by a purpose or a cause, so if you give them one they will fearlessly storm into the unknown and go and rally others to your cause. They have the power to persuade and drive action.
Discover the influencing strengths domain.
Executing
Focus, speed, precision and dedication – your executers are the ones who make things happen. They relish in putting in the hard work right now, so they can move on to the next task quickly. They put thoughts and ideas into action.

People with executing skills are task-focused, driven and able to work tirelessly toward a goal or target. They’re dependable and truly enjoy ticking things off the list, but also – very importantly – able to inspire and drive everyone else’s performance too.
Discover the executing strengths domain.
EXAMPLES OF STRENGTHS COACHING AND DEVELOPMENT
Want to see it action? Even right from the first day, companies who’ve started a strengths coaching and development programme say they notice more interaction, better teamwork and more efficient communication from day one.
For a glimpse into what it’s like, see the feedback from one of our first strengths coaching sessions with one SA company.

Note: We’re continuously developing this content, so we’re constantly adding to it. And you can play your part, too. Got a strengths question, opinion or idea to add to this list? Send us an email at solutions@lifexchange.co.za and have your say.

STRENGTHS-BASED DEVELOPMENT BY LIFECHANGE
Using the basic CliftonStrengths assessment as a starting point, LifeXchange Solutions does full-service strengths roll-outs for your company. From the basic coaching sessions to the in-depth training and facilitating the necessary updates to your systems, processes and organisational management to get the full benefits of the strengths approach.
Discover our strengths-based development.
Also learn to build a team with a mix of complementary skills.

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