Management Conversation Strategies to Strengthen Engagement

Did you know that only 47% of employees report that they received feedback from their manager in the past year? Even worse, only 26% of those employees strongly agree that the comments they received helped them do their job better.
Regular communication and feedback are critical elements of a highly engaged workforce. However, there are many managers who are not comfortable with or skilled at having the types of conversations that bring out the best in their people. When employees don’t feel heard by their managers, they are less likely to give their full efforts to their job.
Although some employees may feel that no news is good news, it’s easy for people to feel directionless and unmotivated without regular feedback. A recent study found that 65% of workers would like more feedback than they are currently getting, even if the feedback is challenging.
Here are three types of conversations that leaders can have with their people to strengthen their engagement levels on the job.
Career pathing: Spend the time to find out your employees’ career goals, professional development plans, and expectations for their future growth with the company. By getting a clear picture of what your employees want, you’ll be in a better position to chart the course for them to achieve it.
Checking in: Regularly touch base with your employees to see how things are going. What resources do they need? What successes have they had? What is holding them back? When you take the time to check in with your team, and act on their ideas, they are more likely to be committed to your organization.
Progress reviews: During this more formal review process, managers can assess performance and reset expectations. However, because the managers have been engaging in the other two types of conversations, the progress review focuses on development and growth opportunities as well as employee strengths.
When leaders have meaningful conversations with their employees on a regular basis, they bring out the very best in their people. Use all three of the conversations with your team for the best results.