1:1 Meetings for Employee Engagement

Are your employees actively engaged with the work they do – or are they simply putting in the hours needed?

There’s been extensive research indicating that teams with highly engaged employees deliver better business outcomes in a range of ways, from improved safety to better productivity and profitability. One of the most powerful ways you can support employee engagement is to hold regular 1 to 1 meetings with team members.

With huge trends or conversations in the workplace around ‘quiet quitting’ that are sending managers into a meltdown, engaging with your employees; speaking with them on a regular basis, touching base - it’s the most important thing to connect and earn their engagement or regain it. Booking in a 1 to 1 has probably never been more important.

Keep reading to learn from our expert HR consultants.

How 1-to-1s directly support employee engagement

We all want to find meaning, satisfaction and growth in our work – after all, it’s where we’ll each spend an average of 90,000 hours over a lifetime. According to Gallup research, the key drivers of employee engagement are as follows:

• A sense of purpose
• A focus on strengths
• Opportunities and support for development
• Managers who care, and
• Ongoing conversation.

Are you confident that your company is delivering all of these to your employees? Our HR expertise and human-first approach to problem solving means we firmly believe that ‘Ongoing Conversations’ - when gone about in the right way - are the best way to facilitate the rest.

It’s worth considering how 1 to 1 meetings help to deliver on each of these drivers.

Providing regular recognition & feedback

Frequent face-to-face meetings are an ideal way to provide precise, forward-thinking feedback and uphold a healthy level of trust and care in the workplace. Focusing on each employee’s specific strengths and achievements is just as important as discussing areas to work on moving forward. In addition, your performance management process might also include public recognition within the team or organisation after a job well done.

Regular, casual 1 to 1 meetings means you can provide quicker, more meaningful and ‘in the moment’ feedback. Research indicates that this is what the majority (65%) of employees want. Providing information this way allows the person to contextualise and act on feedback, improving performance and the outcome of tasks. It also helps to prevent that feeling of building up a bunch of information that may be perceived as criticism.

Sharing ideas and building investment

People work harder towards a goal they feel invested in, and 1 to 1 meetings are a prime opportunity to collaborate on the organisation’s united vision. This can include asking for ideas and suggestions that an employee might have in mind. Employees at every level can provide valuable insights for operational improvements, whether that be how customer service is delivered or whether certain manual processes could be streamlined.

Supporting professional development

Without the space and support to develop professionally, employees can disengage with their role and start to look elsewhere. 1 to 1 meetings between a manager and team member are the perfect time to ask where they want to get to next in their career – and provide the encouragement and support systems to help them get there.

This might include mentorship, professional training and/or leadership and coaching, depending on each employee professional development plan.

Staying in touch with individuals on their plans and progression can help you prepare for their movements also. It helps managers to sustain interest, prepare for talent acquisition, or recognise symptoms of disengagement and diagnose what might be causing them.

Strengthening your employee engagement strategies

1 to 1 meetings remain a vital element within every organisation to build trust, share feedback and ideas, celebrate wins and drive employee engagement.

If you’re struggling to retain employees, with high turnover, with a culture of half-heartedness or disregard, you might want to consider strengthening employee engagement

HumanX HR has a human-first approach. Get in touch to find out how we can operate as your outsourced HR partners to bring your team together, redefine your HR approach and challenge how you think about teams, people and performance.