Want Employees to Stick Around? Good Communication
As I reflect on my journey and the invaluable guidance I've received, I think about the great managers I’ve had. They offered unwavering support and mentorship and played a pivotal role in shaping my growth and achievements. One particular manager comes to mind as I reflect on my journey. He had a habit of coming to my office and asking me to walk with him. On these walks, he would give me recognition for my hard work. He would tell me what I needed to improve and where I should make adjustments. One of these walks was memorable because he told me I was being promoted. And on another walk, he gave me a raise out of the blue. I came to cherish these walks and years later, I realized the profound impact they had on me. They were great vehicles for effective communication. I’m fortunate to have had a great communicator in this manager.
We’ve all had those managers that aren’t great with communication, whether it’s positive or constructive, or keeping us in the loop at work. They just aren’t effective communicators. I had a recent call with someone whose manager didn’t give them feedback. They were frustrated and ready to quit. They felt their manager was passive-aggressive and holding information back. This employee just wanted their manager to be straight-up honest with them. There are several reasons why managers don’t give feedback:
Managers assume employees know whether the work is good or not
Managers are afraid of how employees react to feedback
Managers are afraid of giving the wrong feedback
Managers don’t know how to give proper feedback
Managers are afraid feedback won’t be taken the right way/in the spirit it meant
Managers think employees should know what they’re doing and correct themselves
Managers think employees should dig deep to reward themselves for a job well done
Managers assume employees know how they’re performing
Managers lack the confidence to give feedback
The bottom line? Employees want feedback about their performance. They want to know what they’re doing well and they want to know when they need to step up and improve. They may be afraid to ask their managers for feedback because they sense their managers are too busy. They may think their managers don’t want to give them feedback. They may think they don’t deserve the manager’s time. Good communication with employees is a great way to increase employee retention.
Here are three tools to use to communicate with employees about their work. 1:1s, Stay Interviews, and Continuous Performance Management.
1:1s
Frequent check-ins with your employees go a long way. Take time on a weekly or monthly basis for a one-on-one meeting with your employee. Dedicate the time and find a room away from distractions to meet with your employees. Take the time to find out how your employee is doing. Ask them about a success they’ve had or a recent accomplishment. Ask them where they are struggling and may need more support. This is an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your employees and that in turn, builds trust.
Stay Interviews
Stay interviews are different from frequent 1:1s with your employees because they ask more structured questions geared toward an employee’s satisfaction at work. They’re informational and conversational. You gain valuable information about the employee’s desire to stay or leave.
Effective stay interview questions ask about the work environment, compensation and benefits, relationship with management, training on the job, and career development. You can ask questions about the recruiting and onboarding process. You can ask questions about their overall experience with the company. I like to ask if the employee would recommend working at the company to a friend or family member. The answer to that question tells me a lot about the employee experience. And I end the conversation with “Is there any other feedback you’d like to share with me?”
I want the employee to feel comfortable sharing their feedback and I want them to be honest. Once an employee shares feedback during a Stay Interview, it’s important to do something about it. If you can make changes in response to the feedback, do so. If you’re not able to make the changes, whether it’s due to financial reasons or time constraints, let the employee know that you’ve considered their feedback and you’re not able to do anything with it at this time. Always get back to them, one way or another. Let them know that you value their input.
Performance Reviews
I know performance reviews get a bad rap. And there’s a reason why they do. The Annual Performance Review process is broken. It’s not timely. It’s filled with bias. It’s not actionable, you can’t go into the past and change behavior or outcome. It’s an awful process for everyone involved.
But employees need to know how they’re performing on the job. Are they doing well? Are they failing in some way? Continuous Performance Management (CPM) is one way to provide frequent, timely feedback to employees. It’s performance feedback that happens quarterly, not annually. It’s more informal than an annual performance review. There’s less documentation. You should take notes that you can reference in the next meeting. Continuous Performance Management looks to the future and is goal-focused, rather than looking back at actions that we can’t correct.
When I used CPM, I asked the Employee three questions:
What should you start doing?
What should you stop doing?
What should you continue doing?
And then set goals. Realistic, achievable goals that would help propel the company further and the employee. Set one outrageous goal that really stretches the employee to do great things. Review the goals each quarter during the CPM meeting. I found that the goals that really propelled the company further were those outrageous goals. The employee enjoyed setting them and working on them. It didn’t matter if the employee didn’t meet the outrageous goal, the needle still moved. And the employee got a boost in their work confidence.
Humans crave communication. Humans want to know that their work is great and that they went above and beyond. Humans want constructive feedback so they can grow and get better. Give them the feedback they need. Give them the opportunities to get better. Give them an opportunity to have input in their work and the workplace. Don’t keep employees in the dark. They’re more likely to stick around longer if you give them direct, honest communication.
If you don’t know how to or you don’t have the confidence to give feedback, reach out and I can guide you through that conversation. Reach out to someone else in your organization or network for guidance. But please, give your employees feedback. You’ll be surprised at the results.
