Smunday Scaries and the Employee Engagement Equation

Why Your Team Is Coasting — and How Talent Optimization Can Flip the Script

On a scale of 1-10 how engaged are you in your work?

Whether it’s your cozy home office or the overpriced downtown corner you brave traffic to reach, some people genuinely love what they do.

And then… there’s Smunday — that oh-so-special time around 7 PM Sunday evening when Monday anxiety creeps in and sucks the joy straight out of your weekend.

Now rate each of your team members.

Same 1-10 scale.

If you’ve got a bunch of 3s and below, congrats — you’ve got yourself a crew clocking in for the paycheck, a couple benefits, and a faint glimmer of hope that maybe this week is the one they win the lottery. Spoiler: it’s not.

Your 4s to 6s? They’re not exactly lighting fires. They’re hitting their KPIs (mostly), avoiding trouble, and staying just visible enough to maybe get tapped for the next “opportunity.” But let’s be honest — they’re not the ones raising their hand to fix what’s broken.

Then there’s the 7s to 9s. This group is an interesting mix of new team members and loyal veterans. That’s your sweet spot. These folks believe. They volunteer. They stay late to get it right. They are your culture carriers, your team players. They’ve drunk the Kool-Aid — and if you ask nicely, they’ll even bring the snacks to the meeting.

Then there are the unicorns: the 10s. These rare creatures breathe your mission. They see the big picture and the pixel-level details. The history of the organization is embedded in their DNA. This isn’t just a job, it’s the reason they get out of bed in the morning. But they’re also the most likely to burn out if not handled with care.

So here’s the real question: What are you doing for each group?

How do you keep your A-players on fire (without burning them out)?
How do you grow your B- and C-players into strengths-based superstars?

How do you shift from managing people to actually leading humans?

Let’s talk about it — because Talent Optimization (TO) isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the game-changer your business needs.

How Talent Optimization (TO) Supercharges Engagement

TO uses behavioral data and people science to match the right people to the right roles and unlock their full potential. It’s the difference between building a culture where people thrive… and one where they just survive.

Here’s how TO can give your team the support they need to thrive:

Keep A-Players on Fire (Without the Burnout)

High performers want purpose, autonomy, and recognition — not micromanagement or fluff. TO helps you:

Understand what drives them (so you can fuel it, not smother it)
Customize communication and leadership styles for each person
Provide growth and stretch assignments they actually want

Grow B- and C-Players into Strengths-Based Superstars

Not everyone starts at a 10 — but most people can grow with the right conditions. TO helps you:

Uncover hidden potential based on behavioral patterns and drives
Align each team member’s natural wiring to the right tasks and roles
Develop targeted coaching plans instead of one-size-fits-none solutions

Lead Humans, Not Just Manage Tasks

People aren’t spreadsheets. They’re messy, motivated, emotional — and powerful. TO gives you the insight to:

Improve self-awareness and emotional intelligence across the board
Build better team dynamics and communication
Lead with empathy, clarity, and strategy — not just checklists

Here’s what TO gets right…

Aligning KSAOs with Roles/Fit Roles to Real People: Stop forcing square pegs into round holes. TO ensures your team’s strengths, drives, and needs are aligned with their roles. When someone’s naturally wired to do their job — they do it better (and with less eye-rolling).

Improve Communication (Without Another Useless Meeting): TO builds self-awareness and emotional intelligence into your team dynamics. Translation: fewer misfires, less drama, and actual collaboration.

Fostering a positive work culture – that doesn’t suck: People want to feel seen, heard, and valued. TO helps you build that into the foundation of your workplace — not just your annual engagement survey.

Providing growth opportunities: Succession planning doesn’t have to be a guessing game. TO helps you identify who’s ready, who’s hungry, and how to get them there — without blowing your budget on another generic “leadership” seminar.

Boost productivity (for real): Engaged employees are 22% more productive. Imagine what that looks like across your org. It’s not magic — it’s science (and strategy).

Reducing burnout and stress: By aligning employees’ skills, strengths, needs, and drives with their job and role requirements, TO helps reduce burnout. This is crucial for employee health and wellness, as 77% of employees report being affected by burnout according to a recent Deloitte study.

Improving retention: People leave bad managers, bad roles, and bad culture. TO helps you fix all three. Happy people stay. Full stop.

TL;DR — Invest in People, Reap the Rewards

When you align your team’s natural talents with the work they do — and build a culture of trust, growth, and feedback — everything gets better.

People stay. Culture improves. Productivity rises. The Sunday Scaries start to fade.

Sound like the future you want? Let’s make it happen – together

Book a discovery call and complimentary demo to see how The Predictive Index and Talent Optimization can be woven into your organization’s DNA.

The TO Playbook: 9 Ways to Elevate Engagement

Jason G.

May 2, 2024.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Nicole as a consultant, trainer, and administrator of Predictive Index for both for-profit and non-profit entities. In both cases, the PI software proved to have an immediate impact on my teams With the non-profit organization, we used PI to evaluate both our board members and frontline outreach teams. The PI data was used to better align our board committees and to give our executive director an easy-to-read playbook for managing the diverse personalities and motivations of a growing board. I’m unaware of what other tools could have given us the deep insights we got from PI, and they came at a critical time. It was indeed a blessing. With our outreach teams, PI gave us the same level of operational management insight. We were also able to leverage the software as a screening tool within our hiring process. Nicole trained several of our board members and team leads on the software so that we had the working knowledge to access and integrate the many recommendations into our daily workflows. Due to the successful implementation with the non-profit, I introduced Nicole to the HR manager at my employer. I suggested an in-house demo with one of our teams that needed some tweaking following a recent expansion. There was some hesitation, even a little pushback. Some team members felt we were “too busy” even to take the questionnaire, let alone roll out whatever new practices it would recommend. What’s rewarding about PI is that the whole system initiates with two simple questions. Even those in opposition had to yield to its simplicity. From there, it was a similar experience as that with the non-profit. The “work-style” assessments were incredibly accurate, and they immediately helped the team’s directors identify the sources of common tension points within the group. I left that organization for a C-level position with another company, and I was able to perform the same team and organizational assessments for my new group. Consistently, PI delivered the relevant insights to empower us as leaders to get the most out of our group. Beyond that, the PI assessments spotlight what our organization is presently set up to accomplish vs. what we, as leaders, have defined as our organizational goals. That distinction is invaluable and eye-opening as we focus our strategic plans. Far more than the value of the software, Nicole’s expertise, generosity, patience, and compassionate nature have been instrumental in helping our teams understand and adopt the PI recommendations. We operate in a competitive industry, and people management has never been as challenging as now with the recent shifts in the labor market. I’m thankful to have PI as a tool and Meraki as a partner to help us be more skillful and efficient in our people management, which, of course, translates directly to the successful delivery of our products and services.

T.H., Non-profit

January 6, 2024.

The depth of Nicole’s heart is unmeasurable. I met her for the first time in a parking lot unloading necessities for a group of young people who were searching for guidance and in need of necessities. Her giving didn’t stop there. She continued to bless our non-profit with her gifts and resources. Two years later she is pouring into our organization with her wisdom, using the Predictive Index to build a foundation that has taken our non-profit to stages that a “new” and “small” non-profit can only dream and hope for. Her wisdom, gifts, and talents have changed our organization! We doubled our guesstimated reach of serving vulnerable youth this year, youth that are wandering our streets, in the community we call home, searching for someone who will show them their worth. Our mission is that no youth will journey life on their own without a consistent, healthy adult beside them. Meraki Consulting Partner is walking beside our team and we are so deeply grateful, as is our community and the youth we’re currently serving and will serve! Thank you!

P.C. ,Travel

December 15, 2023.

“I have gone into a coaching session completely broken and in tears. Everything seemed to be going wrong in my life and work was a nightmare. Nicole listened to everything I said and even brought things to my attention that I had never really thought about. By the end of our session, I was laughing and had a game plan for tackling issues at work and home.”

D.R., Engineer

October 12, 2023.

"Nicole is undaunted in her approach to breaking down the barriers of limiting beliefs. Thanks to her I have a new appreciation for my strengths and talents and the desire to grow even more than I have already.”