Boost employee engagement by getting to know them

Could you be missing out on valuable opportunities for employee engagement and retention?

In one-on-one meetings with your people, it’s easy to get caught up in output, results and productivity metrics. But one-on-one meetings are the chance to gain big-picture insight on the members of your team beyond their jobs titles and what they do in their jobs.

HRGrapevine.com advises learning about the complete person, such as their personal priorities and wellbeing, which could be the key to employee retention and even unlocking someone’s full potential.

Holistic employee engagement

Initiating open conversations that go beyond work performance objectives drives employee engagement. These conversations can reveal helpful details about an individual’s circumstances and what motivates them.

Because it’s important to ask the right kinds of questions, here are some good places to start:

• Do they feel like their work makes a difference?
• Do they feel like they’re an effective part of the team?
• What challenges are they experiencing inside and outside
  of work?
• How’s their work-life balance?
• Do they have children and/or pets?
• What’s the quality of the time they spend with family and friends?
• What do they do for fun?
• What do they like to do for exercise?

Keep in mind employee engagement is an ongoing process. So it’s a good idea to break up these explorations of a person’s “whole self” over the course of several conversations.