Tips on how to develop the employee conversation
How can you develop the employee conversation in the direction of the type of organizations we currently work in? That is, more decentralized controlled organizations where employees are increasingly given a say. Historically, the employee conversation was created so that you could categorize people by performance – nowadays we have a more human-oriented approach to our employees and the employee conversation has become a more personal conversation. However, the conversation has not been fully developed and many employees tell us that they do not get anything out of the employee conversation. How can you think about developing the employee conversation into something truly rewarding?
Having developing employee conversations once a year can be compared to exercise – you can't become a bodybuilder by going to the gym once a year. Continuously following up and continuously getting feedback on what you are doing is incredibly important. Here are some concrete tips to consider for the employee discussion:
- Split the call into two parts
When you ask employees about their experiences around the employee conversations, you often get the answer that they feel rather meaningless "the focus should be on me and how I should develop, but we mostly talk about the manager." Avoid falling into that trap by developing a structure that both employees and managers can prepare for before the meeting. Divide the conversation into a part where you talk about the past year, how it has been experienced and what lessons you have both learned from it. After that, you talk about the future. What are your goals for this year? - Don't forget that there are two who are equally responsible for the conversation.
The responsibility for making a good conversation lies with both employees and leaders. Therefore, both must prepare and make sure that it is a good meeting. Keep in mind that the employee's goals for development should harmonize with the goals of the organization, so that they do not live their own life. The goals will be easier to implement then and the employee will feel that it is developing together with the organization. - Understand what is important to the employee.
Find a way where both are satisfied by looking back at the year that has been and making learning goals of what to develop, research shows that what the employee wants to talk about when it finally gets its moment with the manager is what it has accomplished for good things and how it accomplished this. The leader, in turn, wants to talk about what to do going forward. To prevent there from being a clash, listen to what your employee wants to say, see what learning goals you can find that harmonize with what the organization wants to achieve. Be clear about your organization's goals and how your employee can contribute to achieving them.
- Does the employee conversation align with your organization's goals?
The employee interview is to get a reconciliation of how the employee feels and to get a continued development. It does not matter if the individual does not go in the same direction as the organization does. I've seen too many employee conversations today live their own lives. Management sets up templates and creates values but these don't come down to the individual – or they're so advanced so you just check off for it to be done and then you run your own race. Do they make any sense to the organization? - Follow-up
Once you have decided which goals to implement, make these concrete in activities that will lead to the goals. Be sure to set the time span and follow up. It doesn't have to be long follow-up meetings. Short reconciliations throughout the year are enough. What does the status look like? Should we activate new activities? What went well? what went less well? What can we develop? Schedule when you'll see each other again. - Who gets better from getting grades once a year without feedback in between?
No employee interview makes sense if it happens once a year and is also followed by a pay call. Who wants to be honest with their shortcomings and development points if you are going to have salary talks shortly thereafter?
Does it feel complicated and time-consuming? Contact us at HR2Mentor and we will help you! With the digital tool HR2Mentor, you can develop the employee conversation in an easy way and create a rewarding conversation that lasts all year round. This is mainly by putting activities around development at the employee. Something that creates not only structure and clarity, but above all commitment and knowledge of the organization's goals. Good luck!