What is it that truly motivates and inspires people to become great at what they do and to work at it wholeheartedly? Truly the foundation of human development lies within the ability to cultivate a person’s strengths, but what is the key to uncovering and utilizing these strengths? You probably already know that people are more likely to work harder and with a better attitude if they feel that they are contributing according to their natural talent and passion. However, being able to help people to uncover these and to make the most of them is not quite so easy. If you are looking for a fresh creative approach to human development, here are three proven strategies:
The first strategy is to help a person to understand their strength in relation to dealing with people or dealing with tasks. There may be people in your organization who are more task oriented but are involved in jobs which require more interaction with other people. This can be a costly mistake, especially if those who are task oriented are dealing with customers. Even if they possess the people skills to complete the task they may not be contributing the enthusiasm and passion which will build strong relationships with customers. In the same way, those who are more people oriented may be misplaced in roles where they are not experiencing the human interaction they need to thrive.
The second strategy of human development is to assess a person’s willingness to do a task in addition to their ability. This is the area where most leaders fail to do their homework and at the same time is actually more important than a person’s talent. It is common for people to possess talents which they are not using simply because they could care less if they even have them. Sure, they may ‘agree’ to perform tasks which require those talents for the sake of job security or to please their superiors. But it is more important to asses a person’s true willingness to perform a task in order to get their utmost effort.
Finally, it is important to make sure that you have the task oriented people working and tasks and the people oriented people working with people. While it is possible for those who are more task oriented to learn good people skills and vice versa, doing so does not allow them proper use of their true strengths. Not only that, a person’s enthusiasm an attitude about job is going to affect their performance significantly. Better to have the task oriented people working on the tasks and have the more socially adept people working on strengthening connections outside and inside your organization.
In order to ensure the smoothest and most effective human development possible, take each of these one at a time and apply them to assessing a person’s potential. Beginning with their willingness to both perform and to excel at a duty or position, understanding their communication style in order to effectively communicate any changes or training necessary, and finally making sure that they are in the correct position in regards to their ability to either perform tasks or to relate with people. This will ensure that each person whom you put under this analysis will achieve their fullest potential.