Focus Management Communications For Engagement
Employee Communications Improves With Feedback Meetings
Jul 12, 2009
Successful organizational leadership is built on management communications with employees that engage, inspire and inform. An important part of good internal communications is a leader facilitating regular roundtable sessions with employees.
These employee feedback sessions involve senior staff and leaders meeting with employees in small groups of between six to 10. Departmental leaders hold roundtables with staff in the unit while executives draw participants from across the organization and from differing levels of responsibility.
Leadership Development Includes Engaging Employees
The intention of employee feedback session is for managers to listen and follow up on input as part of effective leadership development.
Employees should expect that these sessions are meaningful and important. Some organizations hold roundtables called Skip Level Meetings when staff meet with an organizational leader that is one or two levels above their manager.
Another approach to organizing a roundtable is to pull together an employee group that accomplished a key goal or had an excellent result. These groups meet with leaders and the achievement is discussed to brainstorm how this success can be replicated in other parts of the organization.
As an alternative, create employee roundtable sessions monthly and invite employees with a birthday during that month. Also, provide a name to the regular feedback sessions such as Coffee Break and Chat or Meet and Greet.
Importantly, immediate supervisors should not be invited to the meetings to allow for honest, open communications by all employees.
Encourage Leadership Development to Support Good Management Communications
The structure of good feedback sessions will truly achieve employee engagement and should include the following:
- Give employees a few minutes to help themselves to the refreshments, find a place to sit about get settled.
- Round tables work best as no one will be at the head of the table. However, if rectangular tables are used, ensure the leader sits somewhere in the middle and not at the end of the table.
- The leader should break the ice by welcoming the group, providing a bit of background about themselves and perhaps adding some personal information such as hobbies or family.
- He or she should follow by letting the group know that this is a regular feedback session with no agenda and that it is meant to be informal.
- A good organizational leader will possess leadership development skills that encourage openness by telling the group that the session is meant to an open discussion and that no one should be afraid to ask a question.
- Provide a brief account of the organization’s progress against goals and other key issues or initiatives drawn from the organization's employee communications plan.
- Ask for questions or comments about how these goals or initiatives might be achieved, or any barriers to them being successful.
- If an employee is not participating by asking questions or making comments, ask that employee for thoughts about a specific issue being discussed.
Notes should be taken during the meeting and when the session ends, all attendees should be given a short survey about the session. Each employee should also be thanked, preferably with a handwritten note from the leader within a week of the session.
Include Employee Feedback in Internal Communications Program
The questions and answers should then be published after the feedback meeting and distributed in the organization. Consider publishing regular articles in employee publications or in other internal communications tools about these sessions.
Also, these sessions can provide a type of springboard to generate content such as ideas using social media that seek to engage employees.
Listening and gathering employee feedback is a critical management skill developed in the most effective leaders. Hosting employee sessions when input is encouraged and supported is a best practice in the best employee communications programs.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
