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"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it." -H.E. Luccock Composers throughout history – the Beethoven’s, Mozart’s, and Tchaikovski’s of the world – have created some of the greatest works of art known to humankind, lasting pieces of music still revered, played, and taught today. But their artistry and orchestration might not have had its impact if not for highly sophisticated levels of teamwork via collaboration between them and the musicians who ...

Activate Human Capital Group continues to be passionate about the fact every person has strengths or talents that should be put to use in all aspects of life. There are numerous ways to develop these strengths, especially when working on teams. One way to classify strengths and to build both employees and teams, is to understand the four domains that act as an umbrella for the 34 strengths. According to Gallup, “These domains describe how people and teams use their talents to work with informat...

It sounds like a saying on a motivational poster, but research shows that building on your natural talents is a far more effective way to get where you want to be in life. It’s also a more efficient way to build your team, your department, and your organization. Investing in talents happens when we add the knowledge, skills, and experience that allow individuals to practice and perfect the things they’re already good at or show early signs of aptitude for. 

Every organization is looking for ways to improve and to rise above the competition. A vast amount of research has shown that, across industries and job types, employees have many workplace needs in common. But something is being lost between the knowing and the doing. Between the mountains of compelling data and the integration of these proven practices into our organizations.

Engagement can be thought of as a barometer. A measurement predicted by two key factors: 1. Alignment between individual talents and the demands of the role. 2. How well the basic needs of the workplace are being met. Both of factors are highly dependent on the manager/supervisor. Each supervisor is responsible for creating the alignment mentioned in in the first factor and delivering on the needs mentioned in the second factor such as continually setting clear expectations and offering the empl...

Doing more with less is the norm in most organizations. We’re asking a lot of our employees, our managers, and our leaders. Unfortunately, most of the emphasis has been on working harder, not smarter. Burnout is the typical result of this well-intentioned approach to keeping our organizations running on high-stress, extra-effort mode. The alternative is leveraging our human capital in a more intentional, informed way that honors the unique talents of the individuals we employ. It’s not new… w...

There is no question that employee engagement is a large issue. Over half of the nation’s employees are looking for the next opportunity somewhere else. Breaks are becoming more frequent, time is skimmed off both ends of the work day, and turnover feels like the new normal. It doesn’t have to be this way. If we as leaders focus on removing barriers to engagement, our employees are then free to focus on relationships with customers, innovations, and continuous improvements to our organization.

Good leaders identify strengths, develop them, and place employees where those strengths can be used fully.

Activate Human Capital Group would like to announce the next evolution of a successful trio:  Melissa Ortiz, Emily Killham, and Jennifer Simpson. Combined, this team offers nearly 40 years experience partnering with clients to deploy and continually improve their efforts related to Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement, and Strengths-Based Development.

Texas A&M University's professor Paul S. Busch and Scott W. Davis recently published an article for the Marketing Education Review titled, "Inside Out Personal Branding (IOPB): Using Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 and 360Reach". The article’s two main objectives are: to present an evidence-based approach to developing the self-awareness component of a personal brand, and to analyze the impact of the assignment on student learning outcomes.