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

You focus on people, ideas, careful judgment and quality. You bring others in, question how things work, weigh risks and then push work towards a high standard.

You look for shared purpose, scope for improvement, responsible decisions and outcomes that stand up to scrutiny. You dislike exclusion, stale habits, rushed calls on big issues and sloppy delivery. You prefer open discussion, thoughtful challenge, measured decisions 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 “include, rethink, think twice, then finish properly”.

The upside is engagement, improvement and strong standards.
The risk, if you do not manage it, is slow movement on some topics, heavy workload for you, and friction with more Cautious, Methodical, Analytical, Decisive, Pragmatic, and Driven colleagues who work at different speeds or with different 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 kind, open and conscientious. You see who is present, who stays quiet and who feels at the edge. You invite people in, share context and try to make sure nobody feels ignored.

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

Under pressure, these visible patterns intensify. You spend more time supporting people and smoothing tension, while also checking 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 reliability is clear.

• Driven colleagues may see you as slow or demanding when deadlines bite.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you take work beyond what the situation needs.

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

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 Prudent preferences. They shape how you process information and reach decisions before anyone sees your actions.

Your thinking seeks better ways to achieve important goals. You look at processes, products, and structures and ask where they could shift to have more impact. You dislike routine that exists only because “this is how we do it” and feel drawn towards meaningful change.

Your decisions lean towards a balance of responsibility and risk. You think about consequences, possible downsides and who will feel the impact. You dislike snap calls on high-impact topics, yet you also know that delays have a cost.

From the outside, people may mainly see your inclusion and your thoroughness. They may miss how much creative thinking and careful judgment sit underneath. In reality, you combine relationship focus, improvement thinking, cautious decision-making and high standards.

The risk is that you think through many scenarios internally, then arrive at a firm, detailed view that others experience as heavy or late.

Deep Dive Into Your Preferences

Inclusive (Connecting)

You approach relationships with a strong pull towards inclusion and belonging. You notice who is present, who talks, who stays silent and who seems on the edge. You want people to feel that they matter and that they are part of the work, not on the outside.

At your best, this builds trust and engagement. People feel seen and involved. You bridge gaps between teams or levels and help groups behave more like a unit.

Under stress, this preference strengthens. You spend more time listening, explaining and checking in. You try to protect people from careless behaviour and from decisions that ignore their reality.

You feel more engaged when colleagues treat each other with respect, when leaders consider the human impact of decisions, and when results do not depend on fear or exclusion.

Where this pattern may hold you back

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

• You take on emotional labour for the team and hold yourself to a high bar.

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

• Driven colleagues may feel you prioritise people and process over speed.

• Other Inclusive colleagues may look to you to carry the hard messages they wish to avoid.

You also risk softening feedback so far that the message does not land. Behaviour stays the same, and you carry frustration.

You need clearer lines:

• Which issues require direct, simple language.

• Where you support, and where you expect others to step up.

• Which relational problems you own, and which belong elsewhere.

Inclusion without boundaries turns into over-responsibility and quiet resentment.

Innovative (Thinking)

You think in possibilities and shifts. You look at how things work and ask where they could improve. You question routine that wastes time or offers little value, and you feel drawn towards better designs, routes, or structures.

At your best, this fuels progress. You see options where others see fixed walls. You suggest changes that cut through clutter, simplify steps or open new opportunities.

When pressure rises, your Innovative preference intensifies. You look harder for ideas that protect outcomes under constraints, fresh ways to handle risks, or smarter use of limited resources.

You feel more engaged when leaders show interest in improvement, when ideas receive a fair hearing and when curiosity is not treated as trouble.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Innovative, Prudent and Thorough together, you place a demanding filter on change.

• You generate ideas, then apply risk checks and quality standards.

• Driven colleagues may feel you slow bold moves through caution and detail.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you push for higher standards than the context supports.

• Methodical colleagues may feel unsettled if you propose change while current processes have not fully bedded in.

You also risk holding back ideas until they feel safe and fully formed. By the time you share them, windows of opportunity may have narrowed and others may feel that change arrives late and heavy.

You need two gears:

• An exploration gear, where you share rough ideas early and invite input.

• A decision gear, where you apply your Prudent and Thorough filters.

If you only use the second gear, others experience high effort and caution more than creativity.

Prudent (Deciding)

You prefer decisions that feel responsible and proportionate. You think about risk, consequences and who will live with the outcome. You dislike snap judgments on high-impact issues.

At your best, this protects people, reputation and long-term results. You raise concerns that others miss, slow rush towards risky calls and encourage more rounded thinking before major commitments.

Under stress, this preference tightens. You seek more assurance, more information or more support before you agree to big moves. Possible problems take more of your attention.

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

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Prudent beside Innovative and Thorough, you live with a strong inner pull.

• You want improvement and better ways.

• You see risk and downside.

• You want work that holds up to scrutiny.

From the outside, this may look like “raise ideas, then hesitate”.

• Decisive colleagues may feel you never quite land the call.

• Driven colleagues may feel you are slow in taking risks.

• Analytical colleagues may still feel you decide with incomplete data, even after you believe you have checked enough.

You also risk treating medium-stakes decisions as if they all belong in the high-stakes group. Time and attention are then spread thin, and strategic issues have to compete with smaller ones.

You need a simple decision frame:

• High impact, high risk: deeper thought and slower pace.

• Medium impact: measured discussion, then a clear call.

• Low impact: quick choices with permission to adjust.

If every decision receives high Prudent scrutiny, you stall yourself and others.

Thorough (Implementing)

You approach delivery with depth and precision. You want work that stands up to scrutiny and reflects well on you and the team. You notice errors, gaps and inconsistencies and feel accountable for the final result.

At your best, this protects standards and trust. You catch problems early, improve documents and products through careful review and give others confidence in the work you touch.

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

You feel more engaged when quality receives real backing, when timelines allow proper time for work, and when leaders value accuracy, not just speed.

Where this pattern may hold you back

With Thorough beside Inclusive, Innovative and Prudent, you often place intense demands on yourself.

• You want to involve and support people.

• You want better ways of doing things.

• You want responsible decisions.

• You want high standards in delivery.

To cover all of that, you’ll need to increase your own effort.

• Driven colleagues may feel that you slow progress with checks and revisions.

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

• Other Inclusive colleagues may feel pressure when your standards rise late in the process.

If every piece of work is held to the highest bar, you overload yourself and treat low-risk tasks as if they carry significant consequences.

You need to sort work into clear levels:

• 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 absorb stress that the system should share.

Conditions And Triggers

What energises you

You draw energy from environments where:

• People feel included and have a voice.

• Ideas and challenges receive interest.

• Decisions balance risk and progress.

• Quality and care matter in visible ways.

You respond well to roles that involve:

• Collaboration and coordination.

• Improving how things work.

• Weighing risks and consequences.

• Delivering outputs where detail and reputation count.

You like knowing:

• The purpose and success measures.

• The level of risk leaders accept.

• The standards that apply and where they flex.

• Who decides what and by when.

You feel more engaged when you see that your inclusion lifts morale, your ideas open better options, your cautious decisions protect people and your thoroughness strengthens outcomes.

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

Patterns to watch

Several patterns deserve close attention.

Over-responsibility.
You include others, hold yourself to a high standard and weigh risk. Work and emotional load drift towards you until you feel permanently stretched.

Slow movement on bigger issues.
You put the same level of care into decisions with very different stakes. Medium and minor topics absorb time that larger questions need.

Soft words, firm inner bar.
You speak in warm, measured language, then judge work against a strict standard in your head. Colleagues feel surprised when your feedback lands.

Quality on low-risk work.
You invest deep effort in outputs that carry limited consequences. High-stakes work then competes with low-stakes tasks for your attention.

You do not need to lower your care for people or standards.
You do need more explicit choices about where you place your time, depth and influence.

Working Better With Others

How to work well with your manager

You work best with managers who recognise that you bring inclusion, improvement thinking, cautious judgement and strong standards. They involve you in shaping work and rely on you to deliver solid outputs.

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 approach is acceptable.

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

You add substantial value when your manager involves you:

• Early in scoping and planning.

• In assessing feasibility and risk.

• In leading work where detail, impact and reputation sit high.

You appreciate managers who listen to your view on risk and load, protect quality where it matters and avoid reopening settled topics without strong reasons.

Where this pattern may hold you back with your manager

If you keep absorbing pressure through extra thinking, extra detail and extra emotional labour, your manager assumes expectations remain realistic.

• You stay later, work harder and check more, instead of adjusting the scope.

• You trim your standards in some areas without saying so.

• You feel responsible when outcomes slip, even when the starting plan never matched capacity.

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 on big calls.

If you respond each time with extra effort instead of clear trade-offs, you become the invisible buffer between ambition and reality.

You need to say things 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 a smaller scope.”

• “Here is the risk if we move at this pace. Here is a safer option.”

That shifts responsibility for stretch and risk into shared decisions, not your shoulders alone.

How others can get the best from you

Colleagues gain more from you when they understand that you bring inclusion, improvement, cautious decisions and detailed delivery.

They support you when they:

• Share context and aims, not only tasks.

• Raise risks and constraints early, not at the last minute.

• Respect agreed standards and timelines.

• Engage in honest discussion rather than silent resistance.

You help them when you:

• Explain your reasoning in short, straightforward steps.

• Signal whether you are exploring, weighing or concluding.

• Distinguish between issues that affect risk and reputation and those that reflect preference.

• Share concerns early and invite joint problem-solving.

Where this pattern may hold you back with colleagues

Colleagues with different preferences may notice friction.

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

• Innovative, risk-taking colleagues may feel that you are ambivalent towards their ideas..

• Analytical colleagues may feel you decide without enough data, even after you think you have checked enough.

• Decisive and Driven colleagues may feel you deliberate and are too slow when assessing risks.

• Pragmatic colleagues may feel you push quality and inclusion beyond what current constraints support.

• Other Thorough colleagues may feel strain when your standard rises late in the process.

If you respond by softening your views, you feel under-used and resentful.
If you respond by pushing harder, resistance shifts underground.

You need more explicit, direct conversations, such as:

• “Here is why I think this level of care and caution matters.”

• “Here is what your preferred pace or standard gives us and what it risks.”

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

That keeps you in the role of grounded partner rather than quiet fixer 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 improvements, weigh the risks and then deliver in a perfectionistic way.

• At the start of a project, a short run-through of background, key risks, success measures and non-negotiables helps me match decision depth and effort 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 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 without losing track.

• If you need a faster turnaround, it helps to agree on what to drop or simplify and where you accept more risk, rather than expecting the same level of detail and checking 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 complete things properly.

• If I raise questions about risk, logic or detail, it is to keep our work accurate and avoid avoidable rework, 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 caution, questions or detail feels strong at times, please say so. 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 fixing 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, Innovative, Prudent and Thorough style.

• Your manager and colleagues understand that your questions and your attention to people, risk and detail support quality, risk management and 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.