Working vs. Belonging: Help team members discover their strengths

As leaders, we are charged with providing an environment that inspires and allows employees to contribute and grow. Employees may come to you for a job, but if you create an environment where they can contribute and feel welcome, they will stay because of the culture and feeling like they belong. When you belong, your contributions matter.

What you do is appreciated. You are connected, and you want to do your best each and every day. Ask yourself, how do you make your team feel valued?

Are you reminding them of how they contribute to the success of the business? Do you focus on building their strengths versus trying to improve their weaknesses? Do you know their strengths or even what your strengths are?

A free assessment from TMBC (The Marcus Buckingham Company) will help you and your team figure out your strengths and how to be your best self. Visit to launch the assessment, and share the link with your team, so they can try. Everyone will receive a full report on their strengths after completing the assessment.

The report will include details on how to make an immediate impact, so team members can take their performance to the next level. If you need ideas on how to tap into your team’s strengths, here are some practical ways to help you do that: Observe your team while they are working. Talk to them about their strengths.

They may not be aware of their strongest talents. Put together work plans based on each person’s strengths. During team meetings, have the team share their top two strengths.

This will help build team trust through understanding how each person’s natural tendencies show up each day and how they approach different situations. The goal is for your employees to learn from each other’s abilities and allow them to work as a team. Make a commitment to deliver positive feedback and celebrate successes.

When our team knows that we care and their strengths are valued, they are committed, proud, and excited to be part of the organization. *Mary Lou Atkins, sHRBP, is the vice president of human resources at Chicken Salad Chick. She is a seasoned and strategic HR executive with 40-plus years of experience in the restaurant industry.

She is skilled in talent and performance management as well as employee relations. She joined Chicken Salad Chick in 2019 as human resources director after previously holding various positions within operations, training, and HR at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for 35 years.