June 5th marked our first Dependable Strengths information session, at the beautiful Cascade Village venue in central Burnaby.  It took a great deal more preparation than I imagined.  The challenge was to encapsulate into approximately 1-hour, the value and essence of Dependable Strengths.  The program is so rich and unconventional - how to convey this in such a short time?  We strategically designed the content to bring to life the nuggets by using one of our favorite success stories - a past workshop participant named Jesusa.

Jesusa moved here from the Phillipines 10 years ago, and until finding Dependable Strengths, was not able to find the equivalent professional level work that she had done back home.  6 weeks after completing our workshop, she found work in an accounting role in the construction industry - the perfect blend of her strengths in an industry where she has a depth of expertise.  In just 2 short months, her employer has increased her hours to full-time, and is investing in additional training for Jesusa, as she is re-vamping many of their systems already!  What a wonderful way to illustrate the power of this workshop, and to celebrate Jesusa!

Attendees were also taken through a sampling of the process of mining for strengths by sharing with each other their “Good Experiences”.  As is always the case, we received rave reviews about how uplifting and revealing this was.

Another DSAP alumni, Fern, helped out with a compelling role-play of a typical job interview contrasted with the Dependable Strengths interview strategy.  As the interviewee, Fern first showed how most people typically answer the question, “Tell me about yourself” in an ineffective way that is a missed opportunity, versus, in our second version, her much more strategic approach to turn every interview question into an opportunity to demonstrate value by answering the only question on every employer’s mind, “How can you be of value to me?”

We added a few new items to the agenda, to show people how this powerful approach can be used to widen other possibilities in the realm of work.  According to a recent article in the National Post, only 14% of the workforce is in a role that draws on strengths. Further facts about the alarming trend of an underperforming workforce include: the top 16% generate 60% of revenues, the bottom 20% cost companies 20% in revenues, and approximately 23% of payroll is unproductive.  Our info session featured a segment on how to maximize productivity in an environment of downsizing by re-structuring the way that work gets done with existing staff - in other words, by building strengths-based teams.

We are also now offering Personality Dimensions® workshops, which include fun and lively interactive group activities that bring to life the value of structuring teams according to tactical blending of personality temperaments.

WIP now offers customized, full-scale interventions to help organizations re-energize and re-focus their teams. Please CONTACT US if you would like any additional information about any of our workshops.