CliftonStrengths™ for Faculty & Staff

About CliftonStrengths™

Join almost 30 million people worldwide who are using their CliftonStrengths to thrive at work and everywhere else. discover what you naturally do best learn how to develop your greatest talents into strengths ​use your personalized results and reports to maximize your potential

Benefits of Knowing Your Top 5 CliftonStrengths:

  • a basic understanding of your innate talents and how you can succeed using personalized insights about your first five CliftonStrengths themes
  • greater confidence and empowerment thanks to a deeper understanding of how you can use your CliftonStrengths to succeed
  • an easy way to describe your unique talent DNA to teammates and others using the common language of CliftonStrengths shared by millions of people around the world
  • improved performance at work and anywhere when you use the proven advice and ideas for how to apply your strengths in every part of your life success despite your weaknesses, with concepts and strategies that help you manage -- not fix -- what you don’t do best, so you can focus on getting the most from your strongest CliftonStrengths themes

Before You Take the CliftonStrengths Assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder), Watch This.

Take the CliftonStrengths Assessment

There are multiple ways to interact with CliftonStrengths. Take the assessment on your own, meet with a trained coach in a one-on-one session to learn more about your strengths or sign up for your work group for a team session!

Step 1: Provide your information.

Fill out this form with your first name, last name and department Speedtype. The training coordinator will send you an email with a unique access code and instructions for completing the assessment.  

CliftonStrengths Assessment Request Form

Step 2: Take the CliftonStrengths assessment.

During this hour-long assessment, you’ll see 177 paired statements and choose which one best describes you. The assessment is timed so you’ll need to make decisions that feel most true for you. If you need accommodation for the timer to be turned off, you can request that directly from Gallup on the first page of the assessment.

Top 5 CliftonStrengths reveals the first five talent themes in your CliftonStrengths profile and includes basic strategies to help you start applying your most powerful CliftonStrengths to succeed.

The assessment measures your natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Once you’ve completed the online assessment, you will have access to personalized CliftonStrengths reports. These reports help you understand what you naturally do best and how you can develop and use your talents.

Top 5 CliftonStrengths is ideal for people who want a basic understanding of what they naturally do best. This is the report we recommend for most people.

Gallup also offers upgraded reports to see the full list of 34 strengths or reports with specific action items related to strengths for managers and leaders. View the report comparisons on their website.

Re-Taking the Assessment:

If you have already taken CliftonStrengths at CU Boulder, we encourage you to use your past results. However, there are many reasons why someone may want to re-take the CliftonStrengths assessment. It is important to know, that most individuals will not see meaningful changes in their results over time and, as a result, Gallup's general recommendation is that individuals do not need to retake the assessment.

However, there are certain situations when it may be helpful to retake the assessment:

  • When an individual took it right before or after a traumatic life event.
  • When an individual took it in their non-native language.
  • When an individual was distracted when they took it.
  • When an individual took it in school or early in in life, and years 10+ have passed.
  • When an individual was not authentic in their responses the first time that they completed the assessment.

Step 3: Get your personalized results.

Your customized CliftonStrengths reports and guides will give you an “aha” moment as you experience new ways to understand what makes you so unique.

*View a Sample Top 5 Report

  • discover what you naturally do best
  • learn how to develop your greatest talents into strengths
  • use your personalized results and reports to maximize your potential

Step 4: Apply your Strengths!

Take our online, CliftonStrengths Introduction course or sign up for individual coaching.

Cost:
$14.99 CliftonStrengths (Top 5 Strengths)
$59.99 CliftonStrengths 34 (All 34 Strengths)
$49.99 CliftonStrengths for Managers (Top 10 Strengths)
$49.99 CliftonStrengths for Leaders (Top 10 Strengths)
Compare all reports and view sample reports.

CliftonStrengths Introduction Online Course

CliftonStrengths™ Introduction provides an opportunity for CU Boulder employees to identify their natural talents by taking the CliftonStrengths assessment. During this interactive workshop participants will learn to develop their talents into strengths. These strengths will allow participants to continue developing in their careers and enhance working relationships.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

  • Recognize their top five talents and discover their meaning
  • Explain their top five talents
  • Identify strategies to develop talents into strengths
  • Compare ‘balconies’ & ‘basements’ associated with each strength
  • Use four domains to strengthen working relationships

Course Duration: Self-Paced, online course.

Cost

There is a one-time $14.99 assessment fee to take the CliftonStrengths assessment. There is no cost to attend the workshops once you have taken the assessment. However, taking the assessment once is required to attend the workshops. You can use results from a previous job or past experience.

Course Sign Up

Launch CliftonStrengths Introduction Course in Canvas

Who Should Complete the Course

This course is intended for individuals at all levels of the organization who would benefit from having a deeper understanding of their individual talents and continuing to develop in a way that contributes exponentially to their work and team.

CliftonStrengths for Teams

Do you know why your team members do what they do or what motivates them or when they’re at their best? When you and your team use the CliftonStrengths assessment to discover what you do best, you’ll have stronger team dynamics, better conversations and increased collaboration.

A strengths-based approach to team engagement can help answer questions like:

  • How can I improve teamwork?
  • How can I improve team dynamics?
  • How can I improve team collaboration?

The CliftonStrengths assessment gives people a common language and vocabulary to better describe, communicate with and understand each other. When people are in roles that fit their talents, their energy and passion can fuel their own great performance and inspire the same from their colleagues.

If you’re a department, unit or team, CliftonStrengths is the perfect tool to use to help teams get to know one another. The tool inspires higher organizational and team performance when team members know the strengths they bring and how to work with the strengths of their colleagues.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

  • Recognize their top five talents and discover their meaning
  • Explain their top five talents to others
  • Compare ‘balconies’ & ‘basements’ associated with each strength
  • Use four domains to strengthen working relationships
  • Analyze a team talent map to understand how your team works together

How to Schedule a Team Training

Step 1: Schedule an intake call.

Set up an intake call with Lauren Harris (lauren.m.harris@colorado.edu). During this call, we will evaluate:

  • Training needs and goals
  • Date, time, location, in person or virtual. *For in-person training, clients are responsible for booking space large enough for the group. For virtual trainings the OED training team will send a zoom link.  
  • Group size
  • Other important details about your group
  • Decide which report to use with your group. Compare all reports and view sample reports.

Step 2: Submit roster.

Fill out this roster and upload it to this form. Please provide the first name, last name and email address of everyone who is attending the training. You will also be asked to provide a department Speedtype so that we can charge the cost of the assessment.

CliftonStrengths for Teams: Roster Spreadsheet

CliftonStrengths for Teams: Request Form
 

What to Expect

After the training is scheduled and the roster is submitted, our team will send each participant an email with instructions for taking the assessment. It will include a unique access code that is not to be shared with anyone else. We will set a deadline for the team by which assessments should be completed.

We will communicate with you about the draft agenda to make sure it meets your needs and expectations.

Our team will bring everything with us that we need to present. For team sessions, we will bring a printed report for each person, team talent maps and a handout or learner packet.

Cost for Different Assessments
$14.99 CliftonStrengths (Top 5 Strengths)
$59.99 CliftonStrengths 34 (All 34 Strengths)
$49.99 CliftonStrengths for Managers (Top 10 Strengths)
$49.99 CliftonStrengths for Leaders (Top 10 Strengths)
Compare all reports and view sample reports.

*Training sessions are provided by Human Resources at no cost, units are responsible for the cost of the assessment.

Who Should Attend

Teams or groups working together at all levels of the organization who would benefit from having a deeper understanding of their individual talents and continuing to develop in a way that contributes exponentially to their work and team.

Instructors

Lauren Harris, MS is the Assistant Director of Training and Development for Organization and Employee Development in the Department of Human Resources at CU Boulder.

CliftonStrengths Individual Coaching

CU Boulder employees have the opportunity to schedule an hour-long coaching session with a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. These coaching sessions help employees to understand their Signature Themes in a meaningful way, enabling them to create strategies that allow them to learn, grow, develop and succeed here at CU Boulder.

What is Coaching?

Coaching is a partnership where a trained coach asks thought-provoking and creative questions that inspires a person to maximize their personal and professional potential. It can unlock untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership. Trained coaches help you flourish by helping you focus on doing more of you naturally do best. We work with you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and how to manage both more effectively. We can work with you to provide professional development, management effectiveness, team dynamics, conflict resolution, team performance, career transitions, and leadership development.

What to Expect in a Coaching Session

These employee-driven coaching conversations can be focused on a variety of different topics to support employees including personal/professional development, closing skills gaps, and working towards defined goals or outcomes. Through intentional development and application of identified Strengths, individuals can improve their ability to build relationships, manage daily responsibilities, influence and respond to others, and think about and process information.

Prerequisite

You must have completed one of the CliftonStrengths Assessments to schedule a coaching session. If you haven’t taken the assessment, fill out this form.

Cost: $0

Email Lauren Harris to find a time to meet.

CliftonStrengths FAQ

How do I access my old results?

Using our Account Assistance page, you can have your account information sent to you via email. To access the Account Assistance page and retrieve your account information, follow these steps: Click Continue button on main landing page. NOTE: If you are already signed in, please sign out. Click the Need help with your username or password? toward the bottom of the Sign In page. On the Account Assistance page, enter your email address. Then click Continue. You will receive an email containing the username for each account (if multiple) associated with the email address you provided. Follow the instructions in the email to create a new password for the account you want to use. After creating a new password, you can use the username and new password to sign in to your account.

What's the validity of the assessment?

Gallup's CliftonStrengths® is an online assessment of personal talent that identifies areas in which an individual has the greatest potential for building strengths. Download the CliftonStrengths® Technical Report for more information.

Why is there a timer for each statement? What if I didn't have time to choose a response?

The 20-second time limit and your unfamiliarity with the statements ensure your assessment's accuracy by making it difficult to over-think your responses. The CliftonStrengths assessment works by challenging you to make choices between paired statements. Whenever your talents lead you to make a choice, we capture it. Gallup uses the combination of all the choices you made to calculate your top five themes. If the time limit prevented you from making a choice, it is very likely that neither statement affected you in a way that allowed you to make a top-of-mind choice. Whether each of the two statements described you equally well, or neither statement described you well, your difficulty in making a choice reveals that the statement pair probably did not tap into one of your most dominant themes of talent. You cannot disable the timer; however, if you have a reading disability, Gallup can turn off the timer for your account. Contact Client Support for assistance.

How can I disable the timer? 

You cannot disable the timer; however, if you have a reading disability, Gallup can turn off the timer for your account. Contact Client Support for assistance.

What does the CliftonStrengths assessment measure?

The CliftonStrengths assessment measures the presence of talents in 34 general areas referred to as "themes." Talents are ways in which we naturally think, feel, and behave as unique individuals, and they serve as the foundation of strengths development. Upon completing the CliftonStrengths assessment, you will receive your reports with information about your themes. You then have the opportunity to delve into those themes to discover your greatest talents. Gallup designed the assessment and accompanying reports to help you learn about and build upon your greatest talents to create strengths that will enhance all aspects of your life.

What if I have an error when I redeemed the access code?

Please contact Help | Gallup Access for any issues with your access code.

What is the science of strengths?

Based on a 50-year study of human strengths, Gallup created a language of the 34 most common talents and developed the CliftonStrengths assessment in 1999 to help people discover and describe these talents. In 2001, Gallup included the initial version of this assessment with the bestselling management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The discussion quickly moved beyond the management audience of this book. The goal was to start a global conversation about what's right with people. It appears that the world was ready to have this conversation. Also see the technical report for more information.

Should I retake the assessment?

There are many reasons why someone may want to re-take the CliftonStrengths assessment. It is important to know, that most individuals will not see meaningful changes in their results over time and, as a result, our general recommendation is that individuals do not need to retake the assessment. However, there are certain situations when it may be helpful to retake the assessment:
• When an individual took it right before or after a traumatic life event.
• When an individual took it in their non-native language.
• When an individual was distracted when they took it.
• When an individual took it in school or early in in life, and years 10+ have passed.
• When an individual was not authentic in their responses the first time that they completed the assessment.

If you want to retake the CliftonStrengths assessment, you will need to obtain a new access code and redeem it with a new Gallup Access account. Contact Perri Longley at perri.longley@colorado.edu.

Can I use my old results during a team or individual session?

Yes, and we encourage you to do so! It is important to know that most individuals will not see meaningful changes in their results over time and, as a result, our general recommendation is that individuals do not need to retake the assessment.