Employee check ins are a great way for managers to gain a clear understanding about their employees. They provide an opportunity for managers and team members to ruminate over the important issues and discuss any questions, concerns, or ideas they have.
Frequent check in helps managers and employees stay on the path of productivity. Here are the top 10 benefits of regular check ins.
Improved Employee Engagement
Strong Employee/Manager Relationship
Easy Goal Tracking
Increase In Productivity
Resolve conflicts and discrepancies
Discuss project progress
Understand employee aspirations
Ideation, innovation, and creativity
Keeps employee motivated
Improves employee welfare
While many managers understand the importance of having frequent employee check in as the part of the process, it is challenging for them to regularize the practice of employee check ins at the workplace. That’s why, it is important to have a weekly check in process in to standardize the process and derive benefits from it.
A weekly check in is a one-on-one meeting between a manager and an employee to discuss the work accomplished in the last week, activities planned for the current week, and any issues or concerns the team member or the manager might have regarding the work.
Process Of Setting Up Employe Check In
Here are few tips for you to create a culture of frequent check ins in your organization.
Lay Employee Check In Foundation
Introduce the concept of frequent check ins to your employees and create a framework that works with your organization. Train people on how to be a part of employee check-ins and how it could help them. Remember that while your employees may be open to check-ins during the training, they will need a little push from the management to regularize the practice.
Clarify Check In Goals
It is important for your employees to understand the reason behind these frequent check ins. Assess the current situation of your organization and identify the goals that you want to accomplish through check-ins. Communicate your goals and vision to your employees and help them gain a clear understanding of the purpose of check-ins.
Prioritize check-ins and work on regularizing them. As a manager, it is very challenging to train employees and implement a new practice. Start with communicating the benefits of weekly check-ins then clarify the goals.The next step is to anticipate possible obstacles for the new process, after which you develop a plan to overcome those issues and implement the process gradually week by week. Assign a day of the week for check-ins. This will help you regularize the process.
Focus On Self-Improvement
Employee check in should be more about self-improvement opportunities for your employees instead of strategies about organizational productivity. Spend more one-on-ones having meaningful conversations about your employees’ near-term priorities and career goals. Remember that when you focus on employee development, you are also focusing on the development of the organization.
Keep It Private
Make check-ins a safe place for your employees to share their ideas concerns. Keep your one-on-one conversations and all the forms and data related to it secure and private. Make your employees feel free to open up to you.
It is always easier to have a tool or a software for employee performance management activities. There are many tools that can help you with employee check in in the software market. You just need to find the right one that fits your business needs and easily integrates with your current system.
Weekly Check In
Setting up the employee check in frequency is really important for the process to bear fruit. While most organizations set a monthly check in frequency, much research has shown that weekly check in are the most productive and fruitful. Therefore, try to meet with your team members every week to understand their queries, concerns, and project progress, and to keep them motivated.
Conclusion
In the current scenario of remote and hybrid work environments, where most employees are finding it difficult to keep up with the pace of business requirements, it is imperative to have a frequent check in process in organizations. By using the above discussed tips, you will be able to make the most of the employee check in. Do let us know about your thoughts on employee check ins in the comments section.
Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.