Traditionally, supervisors and managers focus on weaknesses and shortcomings in annual reviews and development plans. In many cases, this approach produces limited improvement. A more effective way to develop people and strengthen a laboratory’s capabilities is to build on the strengths of lab staff. When managers identify and expand the areas where individuals already perform well, they can improve both employee engagement and team performance. Annual performance reviews and development planning provide useful opportunities to identify two to four strengths where additional growth would benefit both the individual and the laboratory. Here are three things that lab managers can do to reinforce this strengths-based approach:
#1 – Recognize strengths
Everyone has strengths—areas where they consistently perform better than others. It requires getting to know the people in the lab and talking with them about what they enjoy doing, where they succeed, and how they support their colleagues’ work. It is also valuable to ask their colleagues what they value about them, where they rely on them, and what they would struggle with if that person were no longer on the team. Investing this time helps lab managers understand how each individual contributes to the lab’s ability to deliver on its mission.
#2 – Grow strengths
After identifying these strengths, lab managers can look for opportunities where further development will benefit both the individual and the lab. The annual development plan can be built around improving two to four of these strengths. People are much more willing to put in the work to improve their strengths than to make their weaknesses a little better. They also value seeing how those improved strengths could be applied to advance the lab’s work. Seeing themselves in a future vision of the lab builds esteem and confidence and contributes to retention.
#3 – Apply strengths
It’s no mystery that people will perform at a higher level when they work at their strengths. Lab managers must determine how to align individual strengths with the needs of the lab’s key stakeholders. Approaches such as granting ownership and job crafting can increase alignment between individual strengths and the lab’s mission. Adjusting roles to better overlap with strengths will also help solve persistent performance problems and can turn poor performers into high performers.
A strengths-based approach to staff development helps lab managers recognize what their people do best, invest in building those capabilities, and align them with the laboratory’s mission. When managers deliberately recognize, grow, and apply strengths, they create teams that perform at a higher level and contribute more effectively to the lab’s success.
