Increasing Diversity and Inclusion using Clifton Strengths Finder
We all face the same internal struggle — the desire both to fit in and to stand out. We want to be accepted and included by others while still being understood and valued as a unique person. Social psychology teaches us that this phenomenon is normal — it’s just the human condition.
This challenge can be particularly pronounced for individuals from minority groups in professional settings. They can grapple with the pressure to conform to the majority culture while staying true to themselves.
Conforming may require suppressing parts of one’s identity, which can be disheartening. Expressing uniqueness may lead to feelings of isolation.
This inner struggle doesn’t end at the office; it intensifies due to the demands of contributing meaningfully while earning a living. This pressure is especially felt by those from historically marginalised groups making it particularly draining for them.
Failure to address this aspect of organisational psychology can undermine inclusion initiatives, cultural values, and individual performance.
How can Clifton Strengths help?
In this context, the Clifton Strengths Finder* assessment can help. It identifies individuals’ inherent talents, fostering personal and professional growth, enhancing team performance and business outcomes. In this series we’re exploring how Clifton Strengths can help build engagement understanding and performance. Last time we looked into how it can help a team adjust to change and uncertainty. In this post we’ll explore how it can help teams increase understanding, diversity and inclusion.
StrengthsFinder is a development tool — the more you work with your strengths, the stronger they get — and a means of tailoring talent to task and improving performance. That aspect of Clifton Strengths can materially affect business outcomes.
* Clifton Strengths and StrengthsFinder are the same word using for the tool developed and registered with the Gallup Foundation.
The assessment isn’t just a diagnostic tool; it fuels personal development and talent optimisation. It boosts confidence, job satisfaction, and team effectiveness.
Moreover, insights from Clifton Strengths Finder go beyond demographics, fostering appreciation for each team member’s unique qualities. This cultivates a culture of inclusivity where everyone feels valued, regardless of background.
Inclusion goes beyond representation; it’s about acceptance and appreciation for one’s authentic self. By highlighting strengths, Clifton Strengths Finder promotes a sense of belonging and empowers individuals to contribute fully.
What difference can using Clifton Strengths make?
On average, workgroups that received strengths-based development showed:
- 10% to 19% increased sales
- 14% to 29% increased profit
- 3% to 7% higher customer engagement
- 6% to 16% lower turnover (in low-turnover organisations)
- 26% to 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organisations)
- 9% to 15% increase in engaged employees
- 22% to 59% fewer safety incidents
Reason enough to use strengths as a developmental tool. However, the benefits to building inclusion go further.
Using Clifton Strengths to increase inclusion
A bonus aspect of uwint Clifton Strengths is its ability to spotlight individuals for their strengths and unique attributes, rather than solely focusing on demographic background. While our backgrounds influence our perspectives, Clifton Strengths goes beyond this. It highlights individuals’ distinctive qualities, increasing understanding and appreciation. It helps create an environment where everyone feels recognised and valued, increasing the sense of inclusion.
An interesting Gallup case study examined the impact of Clifton Strengths on diversity and inclusion initiatives. Teams underwent various stages of the Clifton Strengths assessment process. The findings revealed that teams who’d completed the Clifton Strengths assessment achieved notably higher inclusion scores, underscoring its positive effect on fostering a more inclusive work environment.
Surprisingly, even without Clifton Strengths coaching, teams showed increased inclusion scores, suggesting that the mere awareness of our unique value can promote a sense of belonging and acceptance.
Surprisingly, even teams where only a portion had completed the Clifton Strengths assessment showed inclusion responses 30% higher. It gives a language to articulate our talents, abilities, strengths and passions. This suggests that simply recognising one’s unique value can foster feelings of inclusion. Moreover, it likely contributes to a sense of standing out within a common context, thereby addressing half of the enduring internal struggle.
Developing belonging in the team
Clifton Strengths highlights individuals’ unique value to the team, while also placing emphasis on the individual within the team.
The need for belongingness holds significant personal psychological importance. It also helps an organisation. Feeling a sense of belonging fosters greater comfort in sharing opinions, ideas, and critiques, attributes essential to a diverse workforce that enhances performance. It builds psychological safety. This underscores why companies invest substantial efforts in attracting a diverse talent pool.
Additionally, individuals are less likely to feel like mere tokens when they recognise that their talents are genuinely valued and needed. Fulfilling necessary work aligned with Clifton Strengths themes, such as Strategic, Relator, or Discipline, goes beyond fulfilling race, gender, or age quotas — it signifies excellence.
Furthermore, Clifton Strengths has another subtle impact. Its common language can dissolve the perceived “otherness” of individuals, replacing it with a shared “alikeness” based on strengths themes. Our strengths can be innate and potent drivers of thought, feeling, and behaviour, often going beyond the influence of upbringing or culture.
Finding common, deeply meaningful motivators with seemingly different individuals can challenge stereotypes to their core, fostering a profound sense of belongingness.
In essence, the insights gained from Clifton Strengths contribute significantly to creating a profound sense of belongingness among team members.
In my next post, we’ll explore how to support your team bridge generational gaps at work.
If you’re interested in finding out how Clifton Strengths Finder can help increase diversity and inclusion in your teams or organisation please contact me for a chat.
Kate Jennings
