Inclusive Versatile Prudent Thorough

Introduction

Employee engagement worldwide is heading South.

Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report shows global engagement dropping from 23% in 2023 to 21% in 2024. This is only the second fall in twelve years and is linked to an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity in 2024 alone.

Most employees are not thriving in this picture.
Globally, only 21% feel engaged with their work; 62% report they are “not engaged”; and 17% say they are actively disengaged. Quiet quitting, more sick days, waiting out the week and feeling stuck in roles that drain energy have become common experiences in many organisations.

A clear pattern sits underneath these numbers.
Gallup’s long-term research suggests that about 70% of the difference in engagement between teams links back to the manager. Separate studies show that around one in two employees have left a job at some point in their career to get away from a manager and improve their life, even when they still cared about the work.

This does not place blame on managers.

Managers themselves sit under intense pressure. Manager engagement has dropped to around 27%, and young and female managers show some of the steepest declines. Many feel caught between demands from above, expectations from their teams and little support or training. In that context, both managers and employees experience rising stress, lower well-being and higher turnover.

The hopeful side of this picture is influence.
The same data that highlight the problem also show that engagement improves when people know what is expected of them, receive regular, useful conversations about their work and feel trusted to use their judgement. Research on motivation, including Daniel Pink’s work, points towards three core drivers: meaningful goals, a sense of progress and mastery, and autonomy – genuine freedom to decide how to approach work within clear outcomes.

People join organisations with energy and hope.
They leave managers, systems and cultures that ignore how they work best.

Many organisations have turned to personality tools in search of answers. Personality tends to remain stable across adulthood and does not shift in response to training or new slogans. Labels based on fixed types often leave people feeling boxed in, while expectations around behaviour still change little.

Preferences behave differently.

They respond to awareness, environment and intent. When you understand your preferences, you start to notice how you approach relationships, thinking, decisions and delivery. You also gain language to express the conditions that help you give your best. When managers understand those preferences across a team, they adjust communication, role design and expectations in ways that lift engagement and reduce friction.

Sariio MAPS (Motivations And Preferences Survey) exists for this purpose.
It focuses on four workplace factors:

• Connecting
• Thinking
• Deciding
• Implementing

Connecting and Implementing are the parts of you that others notice first. They shape how you come across in meetings, conversations and day-to-day delivery. Thinking and Deciding sit more in the background. They influence how you process information, weigh options and form judgments before you act or speak.

This report acts as a mirror.

It reflects how you tend to relate to others, organise your thinking, make decisions, and deliver work. It links these patterns with Daniel Pink’s ideas on autonomy, mastery and purpose, and with Alfred Adler’s focus on contribution and social interest – the belief that work matters when it supports something beyond the self.

If you manage others, this report offers a practical framework for understanding what drives different people, so you can work with their preferences rather than push against them.
If you are not a manager, it gives you clear language to express how you prefer to work and what helps you contribute at your best.

The purpose is straightforward: more transparent communication, better alignment and healthier working relationships.

Sariio MAPS gives you the insight to play to your preferences – so that work feels more sustainable, and you feel more engaged and aligned with the contribution you want to make.

Your Sariio MAPS Reflection At A Glance

Your profile brings together Inclusive in Connecting, Versatile in Thinking, Prudent in Deciding and Thorough in Implementing.

You focus on people, options, careful judgment and high standards. You bring others in, explore routes, think through risk and then push work towards solid, detailed completion.

You look for shared purpose, space to shape the route and outcomes that feel responsible and reliable. You dislike exclusion, rigid rules that ignore context, rushed calls on essential issues and sloppy delivery. You prefer open discussion, flexible thinking, measured decisions and work that stands up to scrutiny.

Others often experience you as warm and supportive in meetings and serious and exacting in execution. Your pattern usually feels like “bring people in, explore, think twice, then finish properly”.

The upside is trust, stability and quality outcomes.
The risk, if you do not manage it, is slow movement on some topics, over-responsibility for others and strong friction with Driven, Innovative, Decisive, Pragmatic and even other Inclusive colleagues who work at different speeds or standards.

How You Tend To Show Up At Work

What others see: Connecting and Implementing

In everyday work, people mostly notice your Inclusive and Thorough preferences.

To others, you often appear kind, open and people-focused. You notice who is present, who is quiet and who sits at the edges. You invite participation and want people to feel that they matter. You dislike cliques, harsh treatment and decisions that leave people in the dark.

In delivery, you bring detail and care. You want to understand the brief, test assumptions and ensure the finished work holds up. You spot errors, gaps and loose ends. You push output towards a standard that you respect.

Under pressure, these visible patterns intensify. You spend more time supporting people and smoothing tension, while also checking, correcting and refining work. Some colleagues value this and see you as the person who holds both relationships and standards together. Others may react differently:

• Cautious colleagues may feel you include people before trust and reliability are clear.

• Driven colleagues may experience you as slow or demanding.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you do more than the task requires.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may feel stressed by the standard you set for shared work.

If you ignore these reactions, you risk reputations such as “kind but intense” or “supportive but hard work when deadlines approach”.

What others do not see immediately: Thinking and Deciding

Behind this visible presence sit your Versatile and Prudent preferences. They shape how you process information and reach decisions before anyone sees your actions.

Your thinking moves across options. You see several routes through a problem, switch between procedures and flexibility and adapt plans as context shifts. You understand that different situations need different methods.

Your decisions aim for proportion and safety. You think about consequences, risks and who will feel the impact. You do not rush big calls, yet you also dislike endless delay once issues receive enough thought. You seek a balance between courage and caution.

From the outside, people may mainly see your inclusion and your thoroughness. They may miss how much flexible thinking and careful risk assessment sit underneath. In reality, you combine relationship sense, adaptable thinking, cautious judgement and high standards.

Deep Dive Into Your Preferences

Inclusive (Connecting)

You approach relationships with a strong pull towards inclusion and belonging. You notice who is in the room, who sits quiet and who feels on the edge. You invite views and help others feel that they are part of the group.

At your best, this lifts engagement and trust. People feel seen and heard. You reduce isolation, build bridges across teams and help create a sense of “we”.

Under stress, this preference strengthens. You invest more time in listening, checking in and keeping people informed. You try to shield others from harsh decisions and prevent anyone from feeling pushed out.

You feel more engaged when people treat each other with respect, when leaders consider the human impact of their decisions, and when results do not rest on fear.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Thorough, Prudent and Inclusive together, you often protect people and quality at your own expense.

• You accept many requests for help or involvement, then push yourself hard to keep all promises at a high standard.

• Cautious colleagues may feel you offer trust and access before reliability is clear.

• Driven colleagues may feel you shape goals to what the group accepts, not what the organisation needs.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may lean on you to hold the emotional weight for everyone.

You also risk avoiding direct challenge, especially on behaviour. You soften messages to preserve relationships, then judge yourself harshly when nothing changes.

You need clearer lines:

• When inclusion requires plain, firm feedback.

• Which requests you accept and which you redirect.

• Where you support, and where you expect others to carry their share.

Inclusion without boundaries drains you and blurs responsibility.

Versatile (Thinking)

You think in options, not single tracks. You hold several routes in mind and shift between structure and flexibility depending on the context. You have an eye for different ways to reach the same outcome.

At your best, this supports agile problem-solving. You help groups avoid rigid either-or positions, combine ideas, and adjust plans when reality shifts. You adapt rather than freeze.

When pressure rises, your Versatile preference works harder. You look for fresh sequences, different task mixes, or scope changes that still protect the goal. You juggle scenarios while others cling to one plan.

You feel more engaged when the purpose is clear and there is space to shape the route. Engagement drops when methods arrive fixed from above, or when change feels random with no stable anchor.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Versatile, Prudent and Thorough together, you sometimes move in slow, careful loops.

• You see several options; consider the risks, then hold the work to a high standard.

• Decisive and Driven colleagues may experience you as hesitant or over-complicating.

• Methodical colleagues may feel unsettled if you alter the route late in the process.

• Innovative colleagues may feel you favour safer paths over bolder ideas.

If you adjust direction without sharing your thinking, others see drift rather than intelligent adaptation.

You need to reveal more of your reasoning in short steps:

• “Here are the main options I looked at.”

• “Here is why this route fits our situation.”

• “Here is what would trigger a change.”

That helps others stay aligned rather than guessing why plans shift.

Prudent (Deciding)

You prefer decisions that feel responsible and proportionate. You weigh likely consequences, consider risk, and look ahead to possible downsides. Snap decisions on high-impact topics leave you uneasy.

At your best, this protects people, reputation and outcomes. You raise concerns that others overlook, slow groups that rush towards risky choices and encourage more rounded thinking before big commitments.

Under stress, this preference tightens. You seek more assurance, more detail or more support before you agree to significant moves. Potential problems occupy your attention.

You feel more engaged when leaders treat risk as real, when caution receives respect and when there is time for thought before major decisions.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Versatile and Thorough, Prudent sometimes slows movement more than circumstances permit.

• Decisive and Driven colleagues may experience you as reluctant to land big calls.

• Analytical colleagues may still feel that you decide without enough data, even after you believe you have been thorough.

• Innovative colleagues may sense that you prefer safer, smaller steps over necessary leaps.

You also risk treating medium-stakes decisions as if they all carry high risk. Discussion then expands, and smaller choices consume more time than larger ones.

You need to sort decisions into simple tiers:

• High impact, high risk.

• Medium impact.

• Low impact.

Match depth and pace to that tier, not to your general comfort level.

Thorough (Implementing)

You approach delivery with depth and precision. You want work that withstands scrutiny. You notice errors, gaps and inconsistencies and feel accountable for the quality of the result.

At your best, this protects standards and reputation. You catch problems early, refine documents and products through careful review and give others confidence in the output.

When pressure rises, your Thorough preference tightens. You check again, resist shortcuts and challenge changes that appear to threaten quality. You struggle with releasing work that feels unfinished or unsafe.

You feel more engaged when quality receives real backing, when timelines allow solid work and when leaders value accuracy, not only speed.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Inclusive, Versatile and Prudent, Thorough often turns into heavy inner pressure.

• You want people to feel supported and involved.

• You want decisions to be safe.

• You want the result to meet a high standard.

To meet all three, you start taking on extra work yourself or pushing timelines harder than others expect.

• Driven and Pragmatic colleagues may see you as slow or demanding.

• Innovative colleagues may feel you drag creative ideas back to something safer.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may feel anxious when your standard rises late in the process.

If every task is held to the same high bar, you overload yourself and treat low-risk work as if it carries the same weight as critical work.

You need to sort tasks clearly:

• Must be right.

• Needs to be solid.

• Fine as a rough version.

If most tasks sit in the first group, you become the bottleneck and carry avoidable stress.

Conditions And Triggers

What energises you

You draw energy from environments where:

• People feel included and treated with respect.

• Expectations and processes carry some structure.

• Decisions receive sensible thought.

• Quality matters, not only speed.

You respond well to roles that involve:

• Regular interaction and support.

• Planning and coordination.

• Weighing risk and consequences.

• Delivery where depth and accuracy matter.

You like knowing:

• The purpose and success measures.

• The main risks and constraints.

• Who decides what and by when.

• Where standards flex and where they do not.

You feel more engaged when you see that your inclusion lifts morale, your thinking opens options, your caution prevents avoidable problems and your thoroughness protects standards.

Autonomy matters in how you structure your work, apply standards and decide where to invest deeper effort.

Patterns to watch

Several patterns deserve attention.

Over-responsibility.
You offer support widely and hold yourself to a high bar. Work and emotional load drift towards you until you feel permanently stretched.

Slow movement on bigger issues.
You invest similar levels of care in decisions with different levels of impact. Larger topics then compete with smaller ones for attention and time.

Soft messages, hard standards.
You describe expectations in gentle language, then evaluate work against a strict internal bar. Others feel surprised by the gap.

Holding pace, quality and relationships alone.
You try to be the person who includes, thinks, protects and checks. Others hand you that role and relax their own effort in those areas.

You do not need to lower your standards or care for people.
You do need to move more of your limits, trade-offs and priorities into explicit discussion.

Working Better With Others

How to work well with your manager

You work best with managers who recognise that you bring inclusion, flexible thinking, cautious judgement and strong standards. They involve you in planning and rely on you to see work through.

You benefit from clear, grounded briefs. You need:

• Defined outcomes and priorities.

• Context and reasons behind the work.

• Key risks, constraints and deadlines.

• Clarity on where quality is non-negotiable and where a lighter touch is acceptable.

Once those are clear, you involve the right people, explore options, weigh the risks, and then deliver to an agreed standard.

You add strong value when your manager involves you:

• Early in scoping and planning.

• In assessing feasibility and risk.

• In shaping realistic timelines and standards.

• In leading delivery on tasks where detail and impact sit high.

You appreciate managers who listen seriously to concerns about risk and load, protect quality where it matters and avoid reopening settled issues without strong reasons.

Where this pattern may hold you back with your manager

If you keep absorbing pressure through personal effort and quiet compromise, your manager assumes demands remain realistic.

• You stay late or raise intensity rather than adjusting scope.

• You lower your own standards in some areas without naming it.

• You feel responsible when outcomes slip, even when the original plan was flawed.

Managers with Driven preferences push for more, faster.
Managers with Pragmatic preferences push for lighter standards.

You need sentences such as:

• “With this time and resource, this is what we deliver and this is what drops.”

• “If we want this level of quality, we need more time or fewer other tasks.”

• “Here is the risk if we keep the current plan. Are you comfortable with that?”

That shifts responsibility from your shoulders to shared decisions.

How others can get the best from you

Colleagues gain more from you when they understand that you bring warmth, adaptable thinking, cautious judgment and detailed delivery.

They support you when they:

• Share context, not only tasks.

• Raise issues early, not at the last moment.

• Engage honestly about workload and constraints.

• Respect agreed priorities and standards.

You help them when you:

• Explain your reasoning briefly and clearly.

• Distinguish between essentials and preferences.

• Invite their view on risk, detail and capacity.

• Name where you will apply more depth and where you intend a lighter approach.

Where this pattern may hold you back with colleagues

Colleagues at other poles notice friction.

• Cautious colleagues may feel you open the circle before safety is proven.

• Innovative and Driven colleagues may feel you use risk and quality to resist change or stretch.

• Analytical colleagues may feel you apply high standards even when data are incomplete.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you take work beyond what is required.

If you respond by pleasing everyone, you lose track of your own limits.
If you withdraw, others miss your steadying influence and support.

You need more explicit, direct conversations:

• “Here is why I support this approach.”

• “Here is where I think we risk over-stretch or under-delivery.”

• “Here is the compromise I propose and what it protects.”

That keeps you in the role of grounded partner rather than either peace-keeper or quiet fixer.

Everyday Checklist: How To Explain Your Preferences

Use these suggestions as prompts to start conversations, so you play to your preferences with your manager and colleagues rather than working to someone else’s default style.

What to say to your manager

• I do my best work when the outcome, priorities and standards are clear. Once those are set, I like to involve the right people, think through options and then deliver in a structured, thorough way.

• At the start of a project, a short run-through of background, key risks, timelines and non-negotiables helps me match depth and pace to what matters most.

• I tend to ask questions about impact on people, risk and detail. That is my way of protecting both the team and the outcome, not an attempt to slow progress.

• I value clear agreement on where thoroughness is required and where a quicker, lighter approach is acceptable. That helps me target my effort.

• When priorities or scope change, a brief explanation of why, what moves up or down the list and what “good enough” now means helps me adjust my plan without losing track.

• If you need a faster turnaround, it helps to agree on what to drop or simplify, and where you’re willing to accept more risk, rather than expecting the same level of detail in less time.

What to say to your colleagues

• I try to include people and keep them informed. If I bring you into a discussion, it is because I think your view matters, not to overload you.

• I like us to be clear about who is doing what, by when and to what standard. Even a simple outline helps me stay organised and keep things moving.

• If I ask for more detail or flag issues, it is to keep our work accurate and professional and to avoid rework later, not to criticise anyone’s effort.

• I prefer to finish what we start to an agreed level. If the scope or deadlines change, it helps to reset what “done” and “good enough” mean, so I know where to focus.

• If my focus on risk or detail feels strong at times, please let me know. I am open to adjusting as long as we stay clear on the outcomes and standards we still need to meet.

• If you see a more efficient way to reach the same quality, I am interested. Sharing it early helps us agree on improvements rather than fix problems at the end.

How this helps you play to your preferences

• You receive clearer briefs, decision points and quality expectations that align with your Inclusive, Versatile, Prudent and Thorough style.

• Your manager and colleagues understand that your questions and attention to people, risk, and detail support quality, risk management, and a sustainable pace, rather than resistance or perfectionism.

• You focus effort on the right work, protect standards where they matter most and help the team move from talk into well-finished delivery.

Sariio MAPS: Liberating Conversations

Playing to Your Preferences

Sariio MAPS enables you to express how you prefer to work. It helps you put into words how you like to be briefed, how you prefer to collaborate and what supports you in doing your best work.

Share this with your manager and colleagues so they understand how to work with you, not against you. That means fewer imposed ways of working based on someone else’s preferences and more space to play to your own, while still meeting the demands of the role.

Used this way, Sariio MAPS supports direct conversations, a better fit between you and your role and a more sustainable, motivating work experience.