Focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses is more likely to boost performance, according to research from the CIPD.
The findings of the research with the UK Civil Service won’t come as a surprise to advocates of a strengths-based approach, but as Jonny Gifford, senior research adviser for organisational behaviour at the CIPD, said, “The strengths-based approach marks a big shift in mindset for many, if not most of us.”
The CIPD research centred on workplace interventions in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the National Offender Management Service (NOMS, now called Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service) and the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), as well as work with the Civil Service Employee Policy team.
The research showed interventions promoting strengths-based performance conversations can have a measurable impact on what conversations take place between managers and their staff, and on the usefulness of one-to-ones for employees’ learning and performance.
Last April (2017), the Civil Service moved to a new performance management framework, which according to Rupert McNeil, the government’s chief people officer at the UK Civil Service, has enabled more flexibility for departments to adopt an approach that meets their circumstances, helped to address manager capability and confidence, motivating, engaging and developing people, and creating an inclusive performance culture.
The CIPD research showed that the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)’s more holistic and extensive intervention has had a very positive impact.