Leveraging different strengths within a team

As co-founder and CEO of NCC, I must be intuitive. Knowing my team is essential. What drives them to get out of bed and come to work each day? What is their purpose? What are their passions? What are their career goals? Is my company a stepping stone for them, or can I potentially be a ‘lifer’ employer, as we refer to it? How am I going to actively tap into this employee’s potential?

Knowing these things about my team, taking stock of their abilities and having an active interest in noticing the little things ensures my team feels valued and appreciated every day, not just the days they go the extra mile. It is in understanding your team that you can harness that information to extract the goodness you need within the business.

At NCC, we don’t follow the formal annual appraisal process. Instead, informal (AKA friendly but documented) check in points invite the employee to self-reflect and identify their strengths and areas for improvement. This also extends to ongoing professional development. From their self-reflection and management input, we can collaboratively map out an individual goal plan for a set amount of time (per project, per quarter, six monthly etc).

Identifying and maximising employee strengths not only leads to higher job satisfaction and engagement, but it equally reduces our sick leave and enhances the team’s performance and overall organisational success.

We encourage our Leads and team members to recognise and appreciate each other’s strengths, creating a positive and supportive work environment that requires ongoing effort and adaptation. We celebrate the wins in our workplace. We even have a celebratory bell for ringing in the wins!

Supporting this culture is a part of our metaphorical ‘open door policy’. We invite and encourage collaboration to promote knowledge sharing and foster a multi-faceted approach to leveraging the diverse strengths of our team. Even something as simple as organising a meeting every morning with our Leads can make a big difference, facilitating strategic task delegation that aligns with employees’ strengths to help them shine and contribute their best work.