What are the benefits of personal strengths assessments? These assessments are beneficial for people in any field, and the benefits of character strengths are no different. Interestingly, a recent study based on character strengths showed that people tended to do better after 9/11 than before. Now let’s check some of the advantages.
Character strengths
The Theory of Character Strengths is based on the concept of virtues and strengths. The VIA Classification of character strengths, created by Martin Seligman, measures 24 different character strengths. Each item focuses on a different virtue. Virtues include knowledge, courage, love, humanity, and transcendence. These virtues are the cornerstones of a person’s character. In addition, these strengths are not limited to certain occupations or areas of study.
The use of standardized measures for character strengths has several benefits. In general, quantitative measures are more accurate than qualitative ones, which can be biased by recency effects, context, and the assessor’s perspective. In addition, quantitative tests often produce better test-retest reliability since people tend to get similar scores on the same scale more than once.
Increase self-awareness
The first step to taking control of your life is increasing your self-awareness. It is crucial to determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. Like character strengths survey will help you choose tasks that best utilize your strengths. It will also help you identify areas in which you need to improve. A thorough self-assessment can lead you to better decisions and more productive use of your time.
Learn about yourself: People with high self-awareness understand the value of knowing themselves and talk about their strengths and weaknesses. They don’t make themselves seem better than they are, and they don’t sell themselves short. Using personal strengths assessments can help you become more aware of your unique traits and what makes you tick. By gaining greater self-awareness, you can use these insights to improve your life and relationships.
Drive team agility
Individuals who are good at leveraging their strengths will make better team members. When a team is successful, it has a high proportion of high Learning Agility members. It does not have to be a majority, but there should be enough members to compensate for the low scorers. Using personal strengths assessments will increase team agility and help your organization thrive. For example, a manufacturing company incorporated this tool into its onboarding and development process. The company also began to provide strengths coaching to its entire staff.
Individuals who are good at Learning Agility score higher than their counterparts on the same measure. This is because high-performing teams are naturally inclined to learn and adapt to new challenges. Groups with high levels of Agility also have more willing members who are open to change. Previous research has shown that Personal Strengths Assessments can be used to identify the specific traits that contribute to team agility.
Improve employee engagement
Research shows that a company’s level of employee engagement primarily reflects the quality of management because the costs of low employee engagement range from an estimated 34% loss in profit to a lack of motivation. When employees are not engaged, they are likely to experience unfulfilling work, a miserable commute, and even a lack of motivation. Naturally, this is a cause for concern for any leader of a team. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve employee engagement through better management.
One way to improve employee engagement is to invest in their development. Since employees spend about half of their waking hours at work, making investments in their professional development can ensure a long-term career path. Moreover, developing development plans encourages employees to think beyond their current roles to discover new areas of expertise that they can apply to their work. Personal strengths assessments are precious in this regard. And as long as employers take the time to collect employee feedback, the results can be used to improve employee engagement.
Help you become a more effective leader
As a leader, it’s critical to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses to become more effective continually. Taking personal strengths assessments is a great way to do that. Several different types of evaluations exist, and the best ones are easy to use. The Gallup StrengthsFinder is an excellent example. It can help you develop a positive mindset and boost morale in your organization. Once you’ve taken the assessment, you’ll see your top five strengths out of 30. The 360-Degree Leadership Assessment Tool involves getting anonymous feedback from several coworkers. The goal is to gather honest, constructive comments so that you can learn about your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you’ve completed your assessment, you’ll have a goal to work on. Having a specific plan in mind can motivate you to make changes quickly. Consider your problem areas and write them down. Your personal strengths assessment will help you decide how to tackle those challenges and achieve your goals. The goal should be specific enough to help you focus on the best way to achieve it.