Why do some teams excel and others implode before they start? Some maintain an atmosphere where creativity and productivity thrive. Others prove toxic to the company and those on the team. How would you rate your team? Do you find yourself wishing the numbers added up to greater happiness and productivity?

We offer a modern perspective that has allowed us to quickly grow and scale a very successful group of wealth management practices – creating our very own financial practice dream team.

Identifying the strengths of individual team members through personality assessments empowers your employees to excel. (And, it’s fun!) Using the results to place employees in positions best suited to their skills and passions boosts your company’s return on investment. And, the team spirit and happiness in your office rise to new levels.

The Why of Assessing Your Team

Taking the time to complete assessments on every employee may seem cumbersome. However, the rewards prove worth the investment when you place individuals in positions they are passionate about and naturally skilled in — success results.

Getting the Right People Doing the Right Things

Whether your workforce contributes remotely, on-site or a combination, getting the right people doing the right things boosts employee achievement. This means matching employee strengths to their responsibilities. Less time is spent training weaknesses and productivity rises.

Gallup finds workers using their strengths daily are…

• Significantly less likely to worry and stress.
• Three times more likely to report an excellent quality of life.
• Six times more likely to engage at work.

And, the hours spent in their strengths correlates with the benefit. Those working in their natural talents less than three hours per day carry a heavier emotional burden than those working in their strengths for more than four hours.

Reaping the Benefits of a Well-Fit Team

Not only does the well-fit employee benefit personally, but your company sees increased productivity and an improved bottom line. You build a:

Diverse Team

By combining different personality and problem-solving types, you get a diverse team able to tackle projects and problems with creativity and forward motion. Research backs the benefits of diversity. In studies, diverse teams prove more innovative, productive and better at decision making than homogeneous groups.

Great Customer Experience

When your employees exude happiness, your clients reap rewards as well. The National Business Research Institute (NBRI) reports customers pay more for great customer service. And, employees who are passionate about their jobs deliver the appreciation, personalization and recognition customers want.

Profitable Bottom Line

A great customer experience breeds loyalty which raises sales. But, matching employees to their areas of passion and natural bent increases company earnings for other reasons as well.

Gallup reports strengths-based placements to be…

• Eight percent more productive.
• 15 percent less likely to quit.

Which results in companies seeing…

• 10 to 19 percent increased sales.
• 14 to 29 percent increased profit.

The bottom line: Happy, productive employees create efficient offices and reap financial gains for your company. It really is possible for you to have your very own financial practice dream team.

The How of Assessing Your Team

A wealth of personality tests exist from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the Disc Assessment. We are raving fans of two specific tests, the Kolbe A Index and Gallup’s StrengthsFinder. These tests offer in-depth, yet easy questions to answer in a reasonable amount of time. And, the results are ones you can start using practically with your own team immediately.

Discovering Gut Instincts

Thirty-six questions with no wrong answers on the Kolbe A Index lead your employees to discover their natural instincts — what their “gut feeling” tells them. Over 35 years of research and application offers credible results you can trust with “the best predictor of a candidate’s success.”  

Plus, research reveals “learning to listen to our bodies can improve our decision-making skills.” Our gut is referred to as our “second brain.” Using the Kolbe A Index to understand your employees’ gut feelings yields better decisions.

These results give your workforce the tools to be more productive and successful. Even better, they strengthen workplace relationships and reduce stress on the job. This assessment even measures the potential conflict between employees or supervisors.

Finding Employee Strengths

The philosophy behind Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment, now called CliftonStrengths assessment, lies in focusing on employee strengths rather than building up their weaknesses. Finding their unique strength combinations (top five out of 34 strengths) improves your employees’ self-awareness and clarity.

While this information helps employees identify their greatest talents, it also brings understanding to their contributions in the workplace and improves performance. After all, trying to improve weaknesses often fails — consider New Year’s resolutions.

Researchers, Seligman and Steen, found people who used their strengths on a regular basis were happier and less depressed after six months. Employees working out of their strengths see this result on the job. The Clifton Strengths assessment gets your employees a step closer by providing customized results about what they do best.

What the Results Mean to Your Company

Using the results of assessments to place employees in roles which fit them builds a strong team. This efficient financial practice dream team delivers better service to clients. Evaluating employees periodically ensures they are happy and aligned with their passions. Sometimes, moving them to a new (better aligned) position within the practice works best. Simply having the assessment on file for each team member (new and old) offers a solid starting point.

If you’d like more guidance on getting your team working at peak performance, reach out to us today.

*Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Raymond James. All opinions are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete.