In any organization, it’s critical that you not only hire the best talent but that you continually motivate and encourage your existing talent to improve. But everyone comes with their own instincts—strengths and weaknesses among them. So how does a successful manager address the weaknesses with compassion while still driving the business to success? Amy Cook has the answers in her Forbes article.

Find a preview of Amy’s five suggestions for tackling employee weaknesses below or read the full article at this link!

 

Recognize weaknesses

“Those who could recognize, admit and act upon their weaknesses turned out to be the most valuable employees in the long run.” —Amy Cook

 

Prioritize strengths

“What I’ve learned is that in the long term, the person I’m hiring is more important than what position is actually open at the time. I’ve been far better served hiring the best person possible and then figuring out how to assimilate their strengths into our overall team dynamic than I have by focusing on a candidate’s perceived shortcomings in connection with the current opening.” —Amy Cook

 

Match up mentors

“As an intentional strategy, I’m definitely going to continue seeking out opportunities to put co-workers together who augment the combination of each other’s talents and weaknesses.” —Amy Cook

 

Offer continual feedback

“We prefer to take an agile approach, as advocated by Forbes contributor Eric Mosley, who noted that correcting in the moment with a forward outlook is more valuable than an annual review process where 80% of what you discuss is looking backward.” —Amy Cook

 

Lead by example

“I’ve found it’s important to acknowledge your own shortcomings. I have too many weaknesses to count! I fail at something every day, even though it may not be readily apparent to my team. But I try to be transparent about my own miscues so that other people feel comfortable being open about theirs as well. I find this fosters a culture of growth where people more easily end up supporting each other.” —Amy Cook

 

Read the complete article here and follow Amy on Forbes for more great insights!