Hi all,
I carry out 1-2-1s with all 9 members of my team. On the whole I have seen great results.
I have incorporated a system of each individual carrying out a SWOT analysis on themselves & then adding a 1, 3 & 5 year career plan. These have been used as discussion documents to allow us to agree & plan which areas of development are required in priority to others.
This in turn has allowed me to share some of your views & techniques on time management (by far the area most frequently identified as requiring training by both parties!), also on communication via the DISC model plus many other areas.
I would like to thank you at this point for all your hard work in passing on your knowledge which in turn is allowing me to spread it even further.
I do however have a regret regarding one employee who has recently resigned to move to a better position in another company (well done to him).
This individual sat in our 1-2-1s & always stated that he was happy with the company, with the challenges of our role, he gave feedback on projects, asked questions about the business etc. Certainly the first 10 minutes of the 1-2-1 were not filled with a barage of questions from me & there was ample time for free expression. During my 10 mins I would be open about myself & would share positive feedback, outside the 1-2-1s I would share correcting feedback. We worked on development together & improvements were made & appreciated.
All my other directs are happy with the 1-2-1s & are completely open in their 10 minutes, often sharing feedback with me about my performance & behaviour which I encourage as it helps me to correct some of my actions & behaviours too. We are a close team & 1-2-1s are not the only communications we have, even though we do not all share the same office. A perfect situation you would think.
However in my Ex emplyees exit interview he stated that he would have prefered "a more democratic management style" & also that "communication could be improved".
Where did I go wrong or are there some individuals that will never respond with more than lip service?
One-to-Ones - Employee going through the motions?
If you were only giving positive feedback in the one-on-ones, that could be part of his concern, but it's probably not the only one.
If he wants a more democratic management style, he's in for a rude awakening. Direct reports rarely get a say in how their boss does things.
You're also assuming that he gave his real reasons in the exit interview. Most people I've met say whatever they can to get out of the room quickly, preferably with as little justification of their statements as possible. "Communication" is a really easy target.
One-to-Ones - Employee going through the motions?
Yea, I think it's good that you take his feedback seriously, but I have to admit that this seems like a situation where the guy just wanted to move on - if he really thought these were issues, I guess they would have come up earlier...
And yes, democracy and private business doesn't really go hand in hand as far as I know - we should be allowed to give feedback of course, but we get paid to perform for the boss-man. :)
One-to-Ones - Employee going through the motions?
I agree with Tom on the democratic comment. I would take that to mean he wanted more of a say in things outside of his job or in what he does. I hear this concern on occasion, and usually it comes from an unrealistic perspective on what their role should be and what they are capable of. If you listen to your directs earnestly, and are open to incorporating what you hear, this is probably not an accurate concern.
As for the communication, I have found that most folks who complain about lack of communication think there is a lot more information out there that they are not getting. Reality is, may things may not be decided and therefore are not communicated down. If you waterfall info down to your team in a timely manner, your are doing the best that can be done.
Hope that helps.
-Mike