Increase Employee Engagement and Retention with Better One-on-One Meetings
One-on-one meetings between managers and employees have always existed. However, they are getting much more attention lately. I believe a big contributor is the focus on continuous performance management. Which makes sense. Why not use regular communication as a way to strengthen performance.
Organizations need to remember that the one-on-one meeting becomes successful when managers and employees have a good meeting. I know, this sounds basic, but when we read about all of the unproductive meetings that take place, it’s doesn’t make sense to assume that managers and employees know exactly what to do in a one-on-one meeting.
If organizations want managers and employees to have productive one-on-one meetings, they should offer some training and guidance on how to conduct them. And not just for managers. Employees are 50 percent of the meeting. They need training too!
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working with our friends at Saba Halogen to outline the elements of a successful one-on-one meeting. I hope you’ll take a moment to check these posts out. Bookmark the page. Socialize it around the office.
A Manager’s Guide to Successful 1:1 Meetings with Employees
An Employee’s Guide to Successful 1:1 Meetings with Your Manager
These two posts share a blueprint to prepare for a one-on-one meeting. You can use it as creative inspiration for a microlearning session. It can be turned into a meeting agenda. The goal is to get managers and employees to start scheduling, planning, and participating in productive meetings. Because when they do, the organization wins.
Regardless of your company’s views about the annual performance review, managers and employees need to have regular conversations. And the conversations need to be good. The result will be trusting relationships, employee engagement, and retention.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after attending the Great Place to Work Conference in Austin, TX
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