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Welcome to episode 7 of Claire Shares. I’m so glad you’re here. I’m going to be sharing with you high energy, bite size videos, about all things talent attraction, talent acquisition and talent retention. Today’s talent retention topic is leading effective one on one meetings. I know this will be helpful for both HR Pros and Managers.
Before we get started with today’s topic, I want to share with you my recommendation of the week!
Recommendation of the week
I have been loving the Fairygodboss email newsletter lately, and for years I’ve enjoyed their online events and webinars. Fairygodboss is the largest online career community for women. Find the jobs, advice, and support you need to achieve your career goals. Some of their recent webinars have been building a purpose driven career, and they even hosted a panel event from women working at Sonepar in jobs that the company is currently hiring for. Because what better way to really know the day to day of an open role you might be interested in than talking to someone who’s already in the role! An upcoming event they have in March is called How to Respect Your Own Boundaries Around Your Work-Life Balance, and I’m really looking forward to it. Fairygodboss also has a job board that employers can post to. This is a great community to get involved with especially if you are looking to hire and retain more women at your organization. I love to curate resources and share recommendations, so please reach out to me if there’s something you’re looking for!
Let’s get into our talent retention topic of the day, effective one on one meetings. During a previous episode on positive new hire communication, one important aspect I mentioned to get a new team member started off at your organization on the right foot, was to have one on one meetings between the new hire and the manager. Make sure to subscribe to Claire Shares wherever you get your podcasts and check out episode 5 for that discussion on positive new hire communication.
Some background on one-on-one meetings
Today I’m going to dive deep on that one piece. In my experience, few organizations provide strong guidance or training for managers about when and how to meet individually with their employees. Having always been in a career in HR, I made sure that these meetings happened for myself, and encouraged other managers to have them as well.
Research from Harvard Business Review shows “that managers who don’t invest in such conversations—who view them as a burden, hold them too infrequently, or manage them poorly—risk leaving their team members disconnected, both functionally and emotionally.” I’ve worked at organizations where there was not a standing one on one meeting between me and my manager. Personally, I’ve always operated better when there was a standing one on one meeting, either weekly or biweekly. I liked that my manager asked me what I preferred and what worked best for me, and we found a cadence that makes sense. So first, if you’re a people manager, I highly recommend a one-on-one meeting on some sort of reoccurring cadence. This is a great time to check in, whether that be on organizational or personal updates, realign expectations when it comes to performance, behavior or attendance if needed, and give feedback and recognition. This is also a great time for managers to get feedback from their direct reports and hear about any frustrations. I loved to hear how my team was feeling about their day-to-day work, professional development, and the organization as a whole. These conversations are much better had face to face, whether it’s in person or on video, rather than over email or chat.
How to run an effective one-on-one meeting
Now let’s get into what it means to run an effective one on one meeting. Here’s the process part, of people, process and technology. I like one on one meetings to be employee led, for the most part. I always come with a list of questions and feedback when I meet with my manager, even if it’s a short list of 2-3 things. We meet each Monday for 30 minutes. He always asks me to start first which I like because I know we’ll have the time to go through all of my thoughts and questions. Then he will share any company updates, feedback for me and new initiatives or projects for me to work on. If I have any issues I want to discuss, I come prepared with my thoughts and potential solutions to the issue. Encourage your direct reports to do the same with you as well.
When I lead meetings with my direct reports, we work by a shared planner board we have in Microsoft Planner. We first go over anything that has come up since last time we spoke that needs attention, then we go into updates about projects or longer-term items. I like to keep a focus on getting things done, and what can I do to help if anything to get their tasks or projects to the finish line. I always ask what is on their mind that they need support with or would like my take on. By asking this every week, we’ve built up enough trust where they know I genuinely want to help, and I will give my honest opinion or do my best to help them evaluate a situation they’ve described. Remember as a manager, it’s always a good idea to listen and ask questions, before speaking. You’ll likely get a new insight or perspective to consider before you were going to speak.
I also love to ask if there is anything new they would like to share with me. I like keeping that open ended. Sometimes the answer is no for weeks on end and that’s fine. And sometimes I get to hear about happy personal life updates or a vacation they’re starting to plan. This really makes my day to hear these life updates when folks are willing to share! 😊 There are some other important aspects as well, such as being aware of tone, body language, and acknowledging thoughts or feelings even if you don’t agree with them. Again, meeting agendas should be a combination of day-to-day challenges, career development, job satisfaction, and anything else on the employee’s mind. If you need time for work status updates as well, be sure to budget that time into your meeting.
The WHY for one-on-one meetings
Managers are often evaluated by the performance of their team: the greater the team output, the more successful the manager. It’s the job of the manager to provide advice and help their team get things done and be successful. When you think of it this way, this one-on-one meeting time becomes so much more valuable. Your role as a manager is to help your team overcome challenges, learn, and offer guidance to help them down the right path. By dedicating this time, your life will be easier too. In an earlier episode we talked about workplace communication processes, including cascading down organization wide messages. One on one meetings with your team can be an important communication channel for those larger company updates. You may have to communicate something to your direct report that was communicated down to you. OR, if the organization wide message went out already from someone higher up, the one-on-one meeting time allows the employee to bring up any questions or concerns about that companywide communication in a safe space. Remember we are looking at this from the lens of talent retention. When people feel that their voices are heard and contributions matter they know that the company cares about them. Harvard business review has written articles about how managers who held fewer regular one-on-one (1:1) meetings with their direct reports than their peers at the company did, saw greater turnover on their teams. I’ve also noticed through one-on-one meetings with my team, that team members are more likely to be engaged with their work because they are reflecting on their past week of productivity each time we meet and bringing feedback and new ideas to be more productive. If any concerns are brought up, be sure take detailed notes, and let the employee know when you’ll follow up with them. If you’re unsure what to do with the information or how to respond, seek out your human resources professional for guidance before getting back to the employee. Of course, you may want to take notes even if issues aren’t raised, and that’s why I love Microsoft Planner, To Do and One Note. You all know I love people, process and technology, so I had to make mention of those tools. But really anything works, even a running Word doc!
This week, think about putting in place one on one meetings if you don’t have them already, or think about how you could improve the time you have with your direct reports. Thank you for being here with me and joining me for these bite size videos all about all things talent attraction, talent acquisition and talent retention. These areas of HR and People Ops are my favorite and specialty, and I’m so excited to dive in with you. This work is what I do, if you need help with the tools, technology and process around how you attract, acquire and retain talent, reach out to me and let’s talk!
Claire is Coaching 