How to do a SWOT to assess our staff

How to do a SWOT for individuals: prerequisites

Before looking at each of the four variables, let's look at some important issues to keep in mind when targeting people:

• SWOT focused on people can be applied both individually and in groups. That is to say, it can be carried out for each employee separately or for each employee in a group. group of work (e.g. for each department).
• Although both companies and people evolve, they do so in different ways. When carrying out a SWOT focused on people, the human component, with its emotional and motivational implications, must be kept in mind at all times.
• For example, if we decide to present each employee with their SWOT analysis results, we must be particularly careful that the identified Weaknesses and Threats do not lead to demotivation.
• Unlike a SWOT analysis focused on a company, when focusing on individuals, there is the possibility of asking for the collaboration of each employee to contribute to the creation of their own SWOT.
• The SWOT analysis focused on individuals can be carried out both during the staff selection process and at any other later point where a global evaluation is considered necessary.

Now that we've looked at these preliminary considerations regarding how to do a SWOT analysis, let's look at the specifics of each of the four variables.

Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths and Opportunities

To fully understand how to do a SWOT analysis focused on people, it is important to keep in mind some examples of the four variables to serve as a reference when searching for and finding more:

1. Weaknesses. Aspects related to a lack of knowledge on certain types of information (e.g. not knowing about marketing), a lack of certain skills (e.g. having a low level of IT literacy), demotivation or emotional problems…
2. Threats. Job insecurity, laws that allow for the loss of employee rights, reduction of salary, ...increasing demands due to the evolution of the company sector...
3. Strengths. They are principally the opposite of Weaknesses: broad knowledge on a subject, a high level in certain skills, motivation, emotional intelligence, creativity…
4. Opportunities. They are mainly the opposite of Threats: legal guarantees for workers, training opportunities to expand knowledge and skills, possibility of salary increases, incentives such as Flexible remuneration…

How to do a SWOT analysis relating the four variables

Now that we have looked at some examples for identifying potential Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths and Opportunities, to fully understand how to conduct a SWOT analysis, all that remains is to relate these four variables to each other so that the SWOT analysis fulfils its purpose.

Relationship types are established from the following questions:

• How can threats influence employee weaknesses?
• How can weaknesses limit the development of strengths?
• How can strengths counteract weaknesses?
• How can opportunities counter threats?
• How can opportunities enhance the development of strengths?
• How can Threats limit the development of Strengths?
• How can weaknesses be turned into strengths?
• How can threats become opportunities?

The answer to these types of questions through creative thinking is what will allow us to make the most of what was analysed in the SWOT.