In our search for strong employees to fill critical roles in our organizations, we typically go to employment sites like monster.com where we craft impressively alluring job descriptions, brag about our competitive benefit packages and tell everyone how fun we are to work with. The one thing we don’t reveal is salary – the most important of all – we keep that number securely in our belt as a tool for negotiation.
Salary, benefits and job stability may be all that is needed to bring aboard top talent, but employees need much more to stay and give you their all. Employees expect and deserve answers to the following on an ongoing basis…
1. What is expected of me?
Employees need to have their own sense of purpose in everything they do. This not only includes family, faith and personal interests, they also must understand what their purpose is when coming to work each day. A purpose-driven employee is much more valuable than someone at the office doing random stuff to get a paycheck. Employees deserve to know how they are part of something much bigger than themselves, and what their role is in the organization.
2. How am I doing?
It’s an unfortunate fact that most employees receive critical feedback only when there is a problem. And that’s a problem. It can be mentally suffocating for employees to go days or even weeks with little to no feedback on how they are performing in the eyes of their immediate boss.
It’s a manager’s responsibility to provide constant, consistent feedback, especially when employees are performing at peak levels, making good decisions and delivering on expectations. And they must hear much more than “Great job on that!” They must know specifically what was appreciated so that the actions and behavior can be consistently repeated.
3. Where do I stand?
This ties in directly with #2 above. The purpose of the formal annual review is for the manager and employee to engage in a two-way conversation about performance, expectations and opportunities for growth and/or advancement.
4. How can I improve?
Top-performing employees will always want to know how, and where they can improve. Some may need to be approached and coached along the way. In all scenarios, consider working with all employees to create individual action plans for continued growth with checkpoints along the way. In other words, lay down some challenges and watch them flourish.
5. How can I grow and challenge myself?
Employees who feel bored won’t stick around very long. Just like in #4 above, give your employees challenges and provide an environment conducive for growth. Eagerness to grow personally and professionally should always be rewarded.
What else do employees need? Consider enrolling in a strong leadership training program to learn critical management skills. When you consider that people join companies and leave people, leadership training may be one of the best investments you can make.