The connection between strengths, energy, and employee engagement
We talk a lot about employee motivation. How do we motivate people? How do we get employees more engaged? How do we get them excited about their work again?
Maybe we are asking the wrong question.
What if, instead of asking, “How do I motivate this person?” we asked: “When do I see this person at their best, and how can I create more opportunities for that?”
That is a vastly different conversation. And it starts with strengths.
When Work Feels Different
As a CliftonStrengths® facilitator and coach, I have watched something happen over and over again when people discover their strengths. They see themselves differently.
Someone realizes the thing they have been doing naturally for years isn’t “just something I do.” It is a talent. Someone else finally understands why certain parts of their job energize them while other responsibilities leave them depleted. And sometimes there is that wonderful moment of recognition: “Ohhhhh. THAT’S why I do that.”
My own top strengths include Strategic, Futuristic, Activator, Woo, and Communication. Put me in a room where we are imagining possibilities, solving a problem, creating something new, connecting people, or moving an idea forward, and I can go for hours.
Give me work that requires me to stay in maintenance mode all day? Different MeChelle. Same person. Same work ethic. Same commitment. Different energy.
And that distinction matters when we talk about engagement.
Engagement is More Than Happiness
Employee engagement sometimes gets reduced to whether people are happy at work. Pizza parties. Team outings. Swag. Employee appreciation events. Those things can be fun. I like pizza as much as the next person.
But engagement runs deeper. It is about connection. Connection to the work, the team, the purpose, and the belief that what I contribute matters.
Gallup’s research has consistently shown a powerful connection between strengths and engagement. Employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work. Yet only about one-third of U.S. employees strongly agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day.
Maybe that isn’t simply a motivation problem. Maybe it is an opportunity problem.
Your Employees Have an Energy Bank Account
I recently shared the idea of an Energy Bank Account in a program about strengths and burnout. Throughout our workday, we are constantly making deposits and withdrawals.
Some activities make deposits: coaching someone, creating, solving a complicated problem, analyzing information, building relationships, or organizing chaos. Others make withdrawals: meetings, conflict, rework, constant interruptions or work that requires us to operate outside our natural talents for extended periods.
Here’s the important part: The person matters!
The meeting that drains me might energize someone else. The spreadsheet that makes me question my every life decision might bring someone else tremendous satisfaction and dare I say, “JOY”
That’s why knowing your people matters. Energy, not just time, is a resource we need to manage.
Managers Have More Influence Than They Think
Gallup estimates that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. That’s significant!
Managers aren’t responsible for making everyone happy. But they have tremendous influence on how employees experience their work every day. They can notice where people shine. Ask better questions. Match projects with talents. Recognize contributions. Redesign responsibilities. Give someone an opportunity to lead.
And sometimes the change doesn’t require a promotion, a new position, or a complete job redesign. It might be one meeting restructured. One responsibility traded. One project assigned differently. One opportunity to lead.
Or one conversation that begins with: “I’ve noticed you’re really good at this.” Imagine how different that feels from another conversation focused entirely on what someone needs to fix.
Build From Strength
Strengths-based leadership doesn’t mean ignoring weaknesses. Performance still matters. Expectations matter. Accountability matters. But there is a difference between managing a weakness and building someone’s entire development plan around everything they aren’t.
What if we also asked: Where does this person already have natural talent? When do I see their best work? What seems to energize them? How can I create more opportunities for them to contribute from that place?
Those questions move us from trying to manufacture motivation to create the conditions where engagement can grow.
A Different Question for Monday Morning
Before you launch another engagement initiative, create another incentive program or wonder why your team isn’t more motivated, try something simpler.
Choose one employee. Think about them. When do you see that person light up? When are they at their best? What kind of work creates energy instead of simply consuming it? And most importantly: Do they get enough opportunities to do that work?
Then ask them. Because maybe our job as leaders isn’t to figure out how to motivate people. Maybe it is to know them well enough to recognize what is already there and create more opportunities for them to use it.
That is where strengths become more than an assessment. That is where strengths become engagement. And that is where work can start to feel different.
Purple Ink can help transform your organization. Contact us to learn more about bringing CliftonStrengths to your organization!