How to develop employee strengths

Trying to identify and come up with example strengths and areas of improvement is not always easy. You may find yourself wondering how to identify employee or team strengths and weaknesses. There are many different accepted ways of evaluating employee strengths and weaknesses. You may develop your own way of evaluating employee strengths for, say, a performance review. Many employers see employee strengths as signs of a good employee, so if you have a colleague you consider to be a ‘top’ employee, stop and think about the traits they possess that make them stand out and acknowledge those traits and strengths.

Employee strengths in sales

You want to identify and grow employee strengths. However, key employee strengths can vary based on what industry your business operates in. If your business is sales-based, for example, you may be wondering what strengths are key for your employees. Here are some examples of strengths in the workplace that can be beneficial in a sales-related position or industry.

Organisational skills

One great sales-related employee strength is organisational skills. Organisational skills are important, as sales staff should know whom they have contacted, whom they have not contacted and whom they need to follow up. All this information can be vital to helping them find new customers and communicate with existing customers or clients.

Confidence

Confidence is another key strength for employees working in a sales-related field. It can be hard to sell. A salesperson needs to be confident not only in themselves as a person, but in the product or service they are selling. They also have to have a strong backbone and not take it personally if someone declines a purchase.

Friendliness

Friendliness can go a long way in any industry, including sales. No one wants to buy from a rude, pushy salesperson, so friendliness is one of the best employee skills to look for in sales staff.

Proactivity

Taking the initiative is a great skill to possess, especially in sales. You don’t want to have to micro-manage your staff, so proactive employees can make your life easier.

Motivation

Motivation is key in the sales industry. You need employees who are motivated to do a good job and sell. Motivation is a key employee strength that employees either have or don’t have. You can’t really teach it.

Communication skills

Communication skills are a great asset in any industry but are vital in a sales-related industry. Your salespeople need to be able to communicate with each other and their customers.

The ability to close a sale

Our last example of a key strength for employees working in sales is the ability to close. Some people are natural salespeople, while others may be unable to close the simplest of sales. You need an employee who can complete the deal.

Good employee skills for customer service reps

Great communication skills

One of the key employee strengths for a customer service rep is great communication skills. A good customer service rep listens to your customers, identifies their needs and communicates clearly and efficiently to help them.

Empathy

A good customer service rep needs to be empathetic. They need to understand where the customer is coming from and empathise with their situation.

Patience

One of the most overlooked key employee strengths of good customer service reps is patience. Working as a customer service rep is not always easy. Customers may be angry or frustrated. A rep must be patient and listen, even to rude or flustered customers.

Problem-solving

Another great employee skill that a customer rep should have is the ability to solve problems. Customer service representatives deal with different problems every day. They cannot always ask for help from someone else. They need to be able to solve common problems on their own.

Attentiveness

A customer service rep needs to be attentive to their customer. The customer needs to feel that they have the service rep’s full attention, even if this is not always the case.

Ability to multitask

The final strength of a good employee working as a customer representative is the ability to multitask. Most customer service representatives have many different job duties. They may have to answer phone calls while simultaneously typing up an email or pulling up accounts. A rep needs to be able to complete a range of tasks together to be successful in this field.

How to turn professional weaknesses into employee strengths

Seismic’s training and coaching software makes it easy to train employees on skills and knowledge that could be considered a weakness and turn them into a strength. From practicing important skills to understanding how processes and procedures work, teams can identify knowledge gaps and deliver effective training to any employee.

We know how important it is to identify employee strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy task. This is why we offer tools to help you carry it out.

We provide tools to help you to identify ideal employee skills based on the industry your employees work in. This can help you identify the kind of skills your employees should have. We also offer an appraisal form and checklists to evaluate employee strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for improvement. Find out more about Seismic and get a demo today!