The Shift That Lifts Performance and Protects Energy

Energy often gets treated as a personal issue. In practice, energy is one of the clearest signals about work design.

Many teams have capable people delivering high-quality output while the energy cost keeps rising. Over time, that shapes focus, confidence, wellbeing, and retention. The opportunity is simple: use strengths data to design work that sustains performance.

A practical starting point is a strengths definition with an energy lens. In workplace terms, a strength is something you do well and that energises you. That energising component is where job crafting becomes powerful.

The Evidence Leaders Can Use

A well-known study from the Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) offers a clear signal for leaders: performance improves when development conversations focus on strengths, and performance drops when the focus sits mainly on weaknesses.

In that study, a strengths-focused approach was associated with a 36.4% performance lift over 12 months. A weaknesses-focused approach was associated with a 26.8% performance drop over the same period.

That is a performance story and a sustainability story. When people spend more time on energising work, they have more cognitive and emotional capacity for the harder parts of the role.

Four Practical Job Crafting Actions

Action one: Map work by energy, alongside tasks

Start with a simple energy map for each role. Capture tasks and responsibilities, then add an energy rating.

Use three categories:

1. Gives energy

2. Steady energy

3. Costs energy

You can do this one-to-one in ten minutes. The value comes from the conversation that follows: where does the role rely on “costs energy” work, and where can “gives energy” work drive the highest-value outcomes.

Example

A manager is strong in stakeholder relationships and facilitation. Their calendar has become heavy on detailed reporting and admin. Keep the reporting steady and streamlined, and shift time towards facilitation and stakeholder work where value and energy rise together.

Action two: Shift learnt behaviours into “use when needed”

Learnt behaviours are tasks someone performs well while the energy cost stays high. These tasks often attract more work because performance looks strong on the surface.

A practical job-crafting move is to keep learnt behaviours available and reduce the volume and frequency.

• Create templates and shared outlines to reduce cognitive load
• Rotate tasks across the team to share the energy cost
• Set a specific time limit for the work and ensure that recovery time is safeguarded afterwards
• Pair learnt behaviours with energising strengths work in the same week

Example
A leader writes excellent reports and feels drained afterwards. Use a shared template, set a fixed writing block, and follow it with energising strengths-based work such as coaching, facilitation, or strategic framing. Output stays strong, and energy stays steadier.

Action three: Dial up unrealised strengths through role design

Unrealised strengths are in the “hidden asset” category: you do them well; they energise you, and they get used less frequently than you would expect.

Leaders can bring unrealised strengths to the role in small ways:

• Assign a project that needs that strength in the next sprint

• Create a weekly block where that strength is used deliberately

• Add a “strengths contribution” line into one-to-one agendas

• Build a role pathway that uses the strength at higher leverage over time

Example
A team member has strong strategic awareness and idea generation, yet their role sits heavily in delivery and compliance work. Invite them into planning sessions early in a project cycle and give ownership of a short strategy draft. The team gets better thinking, and the person’s energy lifts.

Action four: Build strong partnerships inside the team

Job crafting becomes easier when the team uses strong partnerships, rather than relying on individual self-management.

A strengths partnership is a deliberate pairing where two people cover different energy patterns:

• One person energised by planning and structure

• Another energised by relationships and influence

• Another energised by detail and adherence to process

This creates a team system where important work gets done by people who gain energy from it, and everyone learns to respect how energy supports sustainable performance.

Example
One person gets energy from adherence and processing. Another gets energy from client-facing facilitation. Align responsibilities so the process sits with the energised owner and facilitation sits with the energised owner. Handoffs become clearer, and delivery improves.

The Organisational Lens: Psychosocial Safety and Work Design

Psychosocial safety strengthens when teams have language for energy, workload, and sustainable contribution.

Strengths-based job crafting supports this by:

• Making workload conversations specific and practical

• Improving recognition so it feels genuine and evidence-based

• Supporting capability development through the work itself

• Creating clarity about what “good work” looks like for each role

This approach also supports leaders. When work design aligns with strengths, leaders spend less time managing friction and more time enabling performance.

Apply This in Practice: February and March Accreditations

Job crafting becomes easier when strengths conversations stay specific. Three signals matter most:

1. What someone does well

2. What gives energy

3. What outcomes the role and team need to deliver

If you want a structured way to apply that lens consistently, our upcoming accreditations provide evidence-based tools, clear debrief frameworks, and practical application you can use immediately.

Strengths Profile Accreditation (Tuesday 17 February)

Strengths Profile brings an energy lens to strengths work. It measures 60 workplace strengths across energy, performance and use, supporting clearer role conversations, stronger development planning, and more sustainable performance.

This accreditation is delivered virtually by our CEO and Founder Sue Langley, across four half-day workshops designed for interaction, reflection and practice.

What the virtual program includes:

• Your Expert Strengths Profile Report, plus a pre-program debrief with a qualified practitioner

• Strengths Cards and The Strengths Book, with practical tools you can use immediately

• Follow-up mentoring support and practitioner resources, including case studies to strengthen debrief confidence

Request the Strengths Profile course guide here

MSCEIT®2 Accreditation (Monday 16 February)

When development conversations move into change, pressure, or conflict, emotional intelligence becomes a decisive capability. MSCEIT®2 is an abilities-based tool that helps practitioners assess and develop emotional intelligence, with practical debrief frameworks leaders can apply in real workplace contexts.

This accreditation is delivered virtually by our CEO and Founder Sue Langley, across four half-day workshops designed for interaction, reflection and practical debrief skills.

What the virtual program includes:

• A clear framework for interpreting results and leading evidence-based debrief conversations

• Practical tools to strengthen emotional awareness, understanding and regulation in real workplace scenarios

• Guided practice to build confidence applying the tool across leadership, talent, and development contexts

View MSCEIT®2 dates and details

Work on Wellbeing Accreditation (Tuesday 3 March)

Wellbeing strategy lands faster when measurement is clear. Work on Wellbeing supports benchmarking and action planning across four pillars of wellbeing:

1. Global wellbeing

2. Life satisfaction

3. Workplace wellbeing

4. Component wellbeing

What the accreditation builds:

• A structured approach to interpreting and debriefing the comprehensive individual report

• Practical use of additional scientifically validated measures and qualitative questions for tailored insights

• Ongoing practitioner connect sessions for shared learning, updates, and applied case discussion

Platform update for accredited practitioners:

• A new and improved practitioner platform, designed to support confident administration and smoother ongoing use

View WoW dates and details here

Explore how our science-backed courses and tools can support you or your team to flourish. Whether you are starting your journey or deepening your expertise, Langley Group is here to help you thrive.

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