How much of your job are you really good at doing? Not the things you are successful in, but the items you would consider your strengths— areas you tend to be good at naturally and enjoy doing as a result.
Talent engagement is knowing what your own talents, skills, or strengths are—and using them as often as possible at work. Your strengths can be found within your job description, but often, they are not. For example, think of a business analyst who once was a catering manager. She handles large groups and short bursts of stressful situations well, but is never given the chance to use those skills.
For many people, their strengths (such as being calm under pressure, bringing large groups of people together for a common purpose, or doing complex analytical work) may not be part of what they do every day. As a result, their talent engagement level drops, leading to a drop in employee engagement or a reduction in daily production or efficiency at work.
There are four key areas to work on to engage your own talents—and those of your team:
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Knowing your strengths/talents.
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Using the strengths/talents (whether you know what they are or not).
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Having support from your leadership—on both knowing what your strengths are and letting you use them in (and out) of your job.
- Knowing the ways that keep you motivated at work, and being open to opportunities to use them (potentially outside of your job description or comfort zone) at work.
To learn your Talent Engagement Zone level—and ways to increase it— visit squarepegsolutions.org.
