Just how much do face-to-face chats with employees really mean?
They may be the factor that pushes a staffer’s “grade” for you up from a B+ to an A.
CareerBuilder recently polled employees on how the types and frequency of communication they have with their immediate supervisors.
According to the survey, 31% of employees who interact with their bosses more than once a day gave their bosses an A grade.
The flip side: Just 17% of those who say they interact with their bosses once a day or less gave their bosses As.
Now that doesn’t mean the average CFO should pop in for two or more chats a day with their staffers. There are bosses and subordinates who must communicate regularly, and “forcing it” won’t boost productivity or morale one bit.
Of course, some employees will curtail one-on-ones with bosses as much as possible when they don’t like their jobs or don’t love their bosses. Your day may be wide open most of the time, but it is a two-way process. If they don’t come to you when they should, chances are you don’t rank them as A or B team players either.
That said, the stats do show that regular communication apparently increases staffers’ admiration for their bosses. And employees who respect their bosses are more likely to do a good job for you.
Here are two communication ideas you may find useful:
1. Set up regular one-on-one meetings: They’re a perfect venue for staffers to give you the lowdown on projects they’re working on, share concerns you haven’t heard about before they become major issues, etc.
Caveat: Don’t require written reports or set a required duration of time for sit-downs. You run the risk of making the meetings a chore – and that’s a waste of both you and your staffer’s time.
2. Consider morning team talks: Some managers do this daily, others at the start of the week. As long as coffee’s involved …