Inclusive Innovative Analytical 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, Innovative in Thinking, Analytical in Deciding and Thorough in Implementing.

You focus on people, ideas, evidence and quality. You bring others in, challenge how things work, test assumptions and then push work towards a high standard.

You look for shared purpose, space to rethink methods, sound reasoning and outcomes that hold up under scrutiny. You dislike exclusion, shallow thinking, rushed or emotional decisions and sloppy delivery. You prefer open discussion, thoughtful challenge, clear logic and well-finished work.

Others often experience you as warm and engaging in meetings and serious and exacting in execution. Your pattern usually feels like “gather people, rethink, test, then finish in depth”.

The upside is engagement, improvement and strong standards.
The risk, if you do not manage it, is slow movement on some topics, high effort for you, and strong friction with more Cautious, Methodical, Prudent, Decisive, Pragmatic, and Driven colleagues who work at different speeds and thresholds.

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 open, thoughtful and conscientious. You see who is in the room, who is quiet and who might feel on the edge. You draw people in, share information and try to build a sense of belonging. You dislike cliques, exclusion and decisions taken in closed circles.

In delivery, you bring depth and care. You want to understand the brief, check facts and make sure the end result is solid. You spot errors, gaps and weak arguments. You push work towards a standard you respect.

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

• Cautious colleagues may feel you include people before reliability is proven.

• Driven colleagues may see you as slow or demanding.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you’re raising the bar beyond what the situation requires.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may feel stressed by the level of critique that comes with your standard.

If you ignore these reactions, you risk reputations such as “kind but intense” or “supportive but hard to satisfy”.

What others do not see immediately: Thinking and Deciding

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

Your thinking searches for new and better ways to achieve outcomes. You look at processes, products and structures and ask where they could improve. You question routine that adds little value and enjoy re-framing problems.

Your decisions lean towards data and logic. You prefer evidence over opinion. You test claims, look for patterns and check whether conclusions follow from facts. You feel uneasy when decisions rest on impulse or hierarchy rather than reasoning.

From the outside, people may mainly see your inclusion and your thoroughness. They may miss how much idea generation and analysis sit underneath. In reality, you combine relationship focus, creative thinking, critical evaluation and high standards.

The risk is that you hold complex thinking in your head, then present strong critiques and detailed expectations without showing the path you took to reach them.

Deep Dive Into Your Preferences

Inclusive (Connecting)

You approach relationships with a strong focus on inclusion and belonging. You notice who is present, who stays quiet and who sits at the edge of the group. You care about voices that go unheard.

At your best, this builds trust and engagement. People feel invited in and less isolated. You encourage contribution and help groups behave more like teams.

Under stress, this preference strengthens. You put more effort into listening, explaining and involving. You try to shield others from careless behaviour and one-sided decisions.

You feel more engaged when people treat each other with respect, when leaders think about impact on people and when outcomes do not ride on fear or status.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Inclusive, Innovative, Analytical and Thorough together, you often challenge and support at the same time.

• You invite people in, then ask searching questions and apply high standards.

• Cautious colleagues may feel exposed by visibility and critique at the same time.

• Diplomatic colleagues may feel you focus more on truth and rigour than on tone.

• Driven and Pragmatic colleagues may feel you hold the group up with analysis.

You also risk taking responsibility for everyone’s sense of inclusion. You step in to translate, explain and protect, then carry emotional load that others never see.

You need more precise boundaries:

• Where you include and support.

• Where you give direct feedback, even if it feels uncomfortable.

• Which relational problems are yours to solve and which belong to others.

Inclusion without firm lines pulls you into roles that drain you and shield others from the consequences of their behaviour.

Innovative (Thinking)

You think in possibilities and improvements. You look at how things work and ask where they could shift for a better impact. You question “how we do it here” and feel drawn towards change that has substance behind it.

At your best, this fuels useful progress. You see opportunities where others see fixed walls. You suggest new approaches, designs or sequences that cut through stagnation and outdated habits.

When pressure rises, your Innovative preference intensifies. You search harder for ideas that protect outcomes under constraint, for redesigns that remove friction or for leaps that match the scale of the challenge.

You feel more engaged when curiosity is respected, when leaders show interest in improvement, and when ideas receive a fair trial, not instant dismissal.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Innovative, Analytical, and Thorough together, you set a high bar for change.

• You generate ideas, test them rigorously, and require strong evidence before implementation.

• Driven colleagues may feel you slow down bold moves through analysis.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you’re complicating what needs a more straightforward fix.

• Methodical colleagues may feel you shift direction before current processes have a chance to work.

You also risk holding back ideas until they feel fully formed and defensible. By the time you share them, energy or timing may have moved on.

You need a lighter and a heavier mode:

• A lighter mode for early exploration, where you share rough ideas and invite input.

• A heavier mode for decisions, where you apply your full Analytical and Thorough strengths.

If you use the heavy mode too early every time, you wear yourself out and stall progress.

Analytical (Deciding)

You prefer decisions that rest on clear reasoning. You look for data, evidence and logical links. You feel uneasy when decisions rest on impulse, status or group mood.

At your best, this protects quality and reputation. You challenge weak arguments, highlight gaps in thinking and help teams avoid mistakes that repeat old patterns.

Under stress, this preference tightens. You look for more information, more checks and more robust analysis. You see flaws and inconsistencies that others miss and struggle to look away.

You feel more engaged when leaders value evidence, when claims receive scrutiny and when logic matters as much as volume in discussions.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Analytical, Innovative and Thorough together, you hold decision-making to a high standard.

• Decisive colleagues may feel you delay closure.

• Prudent colleagues may still feel uneasy, even after extensive analysis.

• Driven and Pragmatic colleagues may feel you over-think issues that need faster progress.

You also risk treating every decision as if it warrants complete analysis. Medium- and low-stakes topics then absorb time and effort that should go toward bigger questions.

You need to tier decisions and match your effort:

• High impact, high risk: apply full Analytical depth.

• Medium impact: look for “sound enough” answers.

• Low impact: pick a direction and move.

If you expect high-certainty logic everywhere, you stall yourself and others.

Thorough (Implementing)

You approach delivery with depth and precision. You want work that stands up to scrutiny. You notice errors, gaps and loose ends and feel accountable for the final result.

At your best, this protects standards and trust. You catch problems early, improve work 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 risk quality. You struggle when asked to release work that feels unfinished or weak.

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

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Thorough, Analytical, Innovative and Inclusive together, you often push yourself hard.

• You want to explore ideas.

• You want evidence.

• You want inclusion.

• You want high standards.

To hold all of that, you have to put in your own effort.

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

• Methodical colleagues may feel unsettled when you shift the route, then still expect high precision.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may feel pressure when your standard rises at the end.

If every task receives your highest bar, you overload yourself and treat minor items as if they carry significant risk.

You need to sort work into clear levels:

• Must be right.

• Needs to be solid.

• Fine as a rough version.

If you place most tasks in the first group, you become the bottleneck and absorb avoidable stress.

Conditions And Triggers

What energises you

You draw energy from environments where:

• People feel included and heard.

• Ideas and challenges receive respect.

• Decisions rest on clear thinking.

• Quality matters in visible ways.

You respond well to roles that involve:

• Collaboration and joint problem-solving.

• Improving processes, products or services.

• Analysing information and concluding.

• Producing work where accuracy and depth count.

You like knowing:

• The purpose and success measures.

• The key questions and assumptions.

• The standards that apply and where they flex.

• Who decides what and what evidence they expect.

You feel more engaged when you see that your inclusion lifts morale, your ideas open better routes, your analysis improves decisions and your thoroughness protects outcomes.

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

Patterns to watch

Several patterns deserve attention.

Analysis and quality everywhere.
You apply Analytical and Thorough standards across topics of varying importance. You feel drained. Others feel slowed down.

Soft tone, hard judgment.
You speak in measured, inclusive language, then hold work against a strict internal bar. Colleagues feel surprised when your feedback lands.

Delayed ideas, late load.
You refine ideas in your head, then bring them forward late, often with detailed expectations. This adds pressure near deadlines.

Over-responsibility for both people and standards.
You try to include, improve, test and perfect. Others hand you that role and relax their own effort in these areas.

You do not need to give up inclusion or standards.
You do need to move more of your priorities, limits and trade-offs into open discussion.

Working Better With Others

How to work well with your manager

You work best with managers who recognise that you bring inclusion, improvement, analysis and strong standards. They involve you in thinking through work and rely on you to deliver solid results.

You benefit from clear, grounded briefs. You need:

• Defined outcomes and priorities.

• Context and reasons behind the work.

• Key assumptions, risks and deadlines.

• Clarity on where quality is critical and where lighter effort is acceptable.

Once those are clear, you involve the right people, explore options, test them and then deliver towards an agreed standard.

You add substantial value when your manager involves you:

• Early in scoping and problem definition.

• In checking logic and evidence behind decisions.

• In leading work where analysis and quality are critical.

You appreciate managers who listen to your reasoning, protect time for deeper work when it matters, and avoid constantly reopening settled topics.

Where this pattern may hold you back with your manager

If you keep absorbing pressure through extra analysis and quality checks, your manager assumes expectations remain realistic.

• You work longer or more intensively to maintain standards.

• You lower your personal bar in places without saying so.

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

Managers with Driven preferences push for more and faster.
Managers with Pragmatic preferences push for lighter standards.
Managers with Decisive preferences push for quicker closure.

If you respond each time with extra effort instead of clear choices, you become the hidden buffer between their style and what the work demands.

You need to say things such as:

• “With this timeline and resource, this is the level of depth we reach.”

• “If we want this quality, we need more time or a smaller scope.”

• “Here is the risk of moving this fast with this level of analysis. Are you comfortable with that?”

That moves responsibility for trade-offs into shared decisions.

How others can get the best from you

Colleagues gain more from you when they understand that you bring inclusion, fresh thinking, critical analysis and high standards.

They support you when they:

• Share context and aims, not only tasks.

• Provide data and background early.

• Invite your view on risk and logic in time to act on it.

• Respect agreed standards and timelines.

You help them when you:

• Explain your reasoning in clear, concise steps.

• Signal whether you are exploring, testing or concluding.

• Distinguish between issues that affect risk and reputation and those that are preferences.

• Share concerns early, not only at final review.

Where this pattern may hold you back with colleagues

Colleagues at other poles notice friction.

• Cautious colleagues may feel exposed by your inclusion and critique.

• Methodical colleagues may feel unsettled if you change your approach mid-process.

• Prudent colleagues may feel you demand more data than is available before decisions.

• Decisive and Driven colleagues may feel you are slow-moving through analysis and checks.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you push quality beyond what the context needs.

If you respond by watering down your views, you feel under-used and resentful.
If you respond by pushing harder, resistance moves underground.

You need more explicit, direct conversations:

• “Here is why this level of analysis or quality matters.”

• “Here is what your preferred approach gives us and what it risks.”

• “Here is the minimum standard I believe we need and where I am willing to flex.”

That keeps you in the role of thoughtful partner rather than either quiet critic or blocker.

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, explore options, test assumptions, and then deliver thoroughly.

• At the start of a project, a short run-through of background, key questions, risks and non-negotiables helps me focus my analysis on what matters most.

• I tend to ask questions about logic, evidence and impact. That is my way of protecting quality and avoiding foreseeable problems, not an attempt to slow things down.

• I value agreement on where full depth is needed and where a quicker, lighter approach is acceptable. That helps me target 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 without losing track.

• If you need faster turnaround, it helps to agree on what to drop, simplify or accept more risk on, rather than expecting the same level of analysis and 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 on 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 challenge assumptions, it is to strengthen our work and 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 questions, logic or detail feels strong at times, please say so. I am open to adjusting as long as we stay honest about the risks and standards we still need to meet.

• If you see a more straightforward route to meet the same standard, I am interested. Sharing it early helps us combine your practicality with my depth.

How this helps you play to your preferences

• You receive clearer briefs, expectations and quality levels that align with your Inclusive, Innovative, Analytical and Thorough style.

• Your manager and colleagues understand that your questions and critiques support quality, learning and risk management, rather than negativity or perfectionism for its own sake.

• You focus effort on the right work, protect standards where they matter most and help the team move from ideas into robust, 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 like 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 becomes a practical tool for direct conversations, a better fit between you and your role and a more sustainable, motivating work experience.