The
chorus line in Harold Arlen 1944 song with Johnny Mercer’s lyric’s “Accentuate
the positive” goes
...You've
got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between..
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between..
In 1998, a
specialist in Strengths Psychology, Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. (1924-2003), along
with Tom Rath and a team of scientists at Gallup, created the online
StrengthsFinder assessment.
In 2004,
the assessment's name was formally changed to Clifton Strengthsfinder in honour of its chief designer. Based on a 40-year study
of human strengths, Gallup created a language of the 34 most common talents and
developed the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment to help people discover and
describe these talents. From the book there is an access code to go on-line and
complete the questionnaire and print out your report.
"Hide not your talents.
They for use were made.
What's a sundial in the shade?"
--
Benjamin Franklin
Gallup
brought out a version specifically for Strengths-Based-Selling
After
discovering their talents through the StrengthsFinder assessment, readers will
learn to use their strengths in every step of the sales process, including how
to:
·
measure cold calling success, and improve contact
and conversation rates
·
determine when to walk away from the wrong customer
·
become a partner to customers, not just a vendor
·
improve negotiating and closing strategies
·
make the most of the honeymoon period with a new
customer
·
turn satisfied customers into engaged customers
I went on line for Strengthfinder 2.0 some time ago and have found the method very helpful. It 'revealed' my natural way of thinking, feeling or behaving. It suggested that I should focus on time practising these 'talents', developing my skills and building my knowledge base. It gave a useful set of ideas for action and an action plan template.
 |
| Clifton Strengthfinder 2.0 states, Hugh Alford's top 5 themes are Input, Adaptability,Developer, Connectedness and Restorative |
Another popular tool is CAPP’s Realise 2 which
identifies 60 strengths according to three axis model ( dimensions) energy,
performance and use.
The data from CAPP’s completed questionnaire is
used to identify where candidates strengths lie across four categories
1. Their realised strengths,
2. Their unrealised strengths,
3. Their learned behaviours
4. and their
weaknesses.
Ernst and Young ( E &Y) were reported in the London Evening
Standard Tuesday 14th February 2012, to look for relationship
development and problem solving as key attributes that they look for in their graduate
trainees.
Those finally selected also demonstrate determination and resilience
and are able to work hard and thrive in difficult situations.
E & Y need to know that their trainees are
going to be able to cope if they are sent halfway across the world to work on a
client project.
Coincidentally the attributes they look for in
their trainees who may not be seen in the conventional sense as salespeople are
key to the selling profession.
E & Y released the results of a survey of 1,000
students where it was attitude that was valued by E & Y more than a good
degree. The survey of over 1000 UK students was devised by the Centre of Applied Positive Psychology
CAPP and tested for employability skills.
Ernst & Young – Capp designed, developed
and delivered a capability for building strengths-based graduate recruitment
across the business, including the development of Realise2 Lite as a graduate attraction
tool.
Ernst & Young is a major graduate recruiter
in the UK, and as one of the ‘Big Four’ professional services firms, is
recognised as being a top place to work for many graduates. Notwithstanding
this natural attraction of candidates to the firm.
To continue to attract the most talented and motivated people to
join them, their graduate recruitment offering has to be fresh and
appealing for the emerging Generation Y of graduate talent. ( E and Y 's slogan is Quality in everything we do)
E& Y ‘s head of graduate recruitment stated
that they interview over 3,000 bright graduates each year but only 25% have the
all-round skills set that they recruit for.
CAPP developed Realise2 Lite, a bespoke version of
Realise2 that was tailored specifically to assess the 16 strengths required by Ernst & Young in their graduates.
Graduates who complete Realise2 Lite (it costs less than £20) then automatically receive a short feedback report
detailing their Realised and Unrealised Strengths. They can then use this
self-insight to improve their employability and to help them in their own
career development decisions, through having a greater insight, awareness and
language to talk about their strengths.
CAPP however stress that their Realise2 Lite is not used as
part of any selection process for Ernst & Young, but purely as an
attraction marketing tool.
But the top five skill sets were:-
· Pride in their work
· Problem solving
· Being true to themselves
· Building relationships
· And
having a sense of humour
The five weakest were
· Resilience
· Time optimisation
· Showing courage overcoming their fears
· Taking risks
· Making
themselves the centre of attention
“ a good degree from a respected university no
longer guarantees students a job”
says E & Y's Stephen Isherwood.
Although 83% of students interviewed were confident
about achieving their career aspirations, Stephen warned graduates against
becoming complacent.
‘Students need to stay focused on what they are
good at and develop their experience around these core areas, rather than
trying to cover all bases. This in turn will help to build confidence in their
abilities and improve their levels of resilience,’ warned Alex Linley, the
director of CAPP.
CAPP’s Student completions which are in excess of
1,000 per month for Realise2 Lite, with over 18,000 students having completed
the tool in the first 18 months since it was launched
There has been significant website and social media
traffic through the graduate recruitment portal, driven by referral and
recommendation of the various strengths activities, including Realise2 Lite
Differentiated student engagement at campus events
through the strengths focus of Ernst & Young’s graduate recruitment
campaigns is supported through Realise2 Lite
Differentiated employer brand and graduate
attraction has been achieved, through positioning Ernst & Young as a
graduate employer where you will be recruited for your strengths
Reaise 2 provides enhanced graduate employability through providing
all graduates who complete the tool with increased insight and self-awareness
of their strengths, together with a language of strengths that they can use on
their CV and at interview.
Further reading
Strengths Based Selling
Authors: Tony Rutigliano and Brian Brim
Gallup Press: 2011
220 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59562-048-4
No comments:
Post a Comment