Every time I was called into my manager’s office I was terrified that this would be the time they fired me.
I had no reason to think so, of course. My performance was excellent, clients loved me and the value I provided for them, and I wasn’t toxic (yet).
In past jobs, if a manager wanted to speak to you, you were in trouble.
What differed this time was that instead of telling me what I could do better, my manager wanted to see what she could do better.
Check-ins vs Performance Reviews
The difference between reviewing performance and checking in with an employee is palpable in the way they play out.
For one, the power dynamic is largely reversed.
Instead of a boss pointing out all of the things the employee is doing wrong, the goal is to unlock potential.
After all, telling a person they have potential only goes so far if you do nothing to help them realize it.
A performance review is all about “what value are you providing for me and how can I get more out of you.”
A check-in is all about “what can I do to help you provide more value to our clients?”
Helping employees provide more value to your clients does cause them to provide more value to you through increased client satisfaction and subsequent retention.
It helps them to be more productive as they have the tools, resources, and processes they need to operate at their best and can help your agency improve on many levels.
However, this doesn’t happen by just sitting down and saying “This is a ‘check-in’, not a performance review. What do you want?”
It takes intentionality and some ground work. Let’s look at some key points to focus on.
Have A Conversation
You’ve hired people and now you have a relationship with them. What’s the number one thing you need to make a relationship work?
Communication.
That’s talking and listening, and it can’t happen if either party feels unsafe, insecure, or self-conscious.
It’s possible that you have to discuss some areas of improvement with your employee, but you should also hear them out and see if there’s a way you can adjust to improve their chances of success.
You may need to work to encourage your employees to be transparent and honest. You can start by explaining that these check-ins are to make sure you’re doing your part as a leader to empower and equip them to do their job to the best of their ability.
You may also need to give them examples of topics that are appropriate to discuss and listing things like “anything we’re doing that makes you feel less valued”, “additional software or training you feel would help you better serve your clients”, or “things you love or hate about your job”.
Try to avoid making it all negative, but if part of the goal of these check-ins is to run a better agency, learning what your employees perceive as wrong with your agency can really help.
This can also help you identify areas where you’ve not communicated your agency’s cultural goals and guidelines well and you can clear up any misunderstandings.
Which leads us to…
Identify & Solve Problems
A key part of a properly organized check-in is to identify problems and seek a solution together.
If an employee points out a problem they’re experiencing, particularly one that is keeping them and possibly others from performing at their peak, you should do everything in your power to solve that problem.
Sometimes these problems are only perceived as problems by one party, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.
In these cases, it’s easy to point the finger and say “none of the rest of us see this as a problem, so who do you think needs to change here?”
While I doubt you’d phrase it so bluntly, there are plenty out there who would blame the employee because they’re the only one who perceives a problem.
Even with a perceived problem, though, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is. What matters is that you’ve identified a problem and you need a solution.
The problem with perceived problems is miscommunication or misunderstanding.
These are easy problems to solve because all you have to do is find out where the gap in communication was and better explain it.
You won’t find these, though, without cultivating that safe environment for a conversation, rather than a lecture. If employees feel secure enough to voice their concerns and frustrations, you can better identify problems that have arisen from miscommunication or misunderstanding.
That covers most problems, but some problems come from other employees failing to do their work and support their team members.
That’s when you’ll need to call them in and approach the situation with the desire to understand.
If you come in guns blazing, you can’t really create a safe environment because those most prone to complaining are the only ones who are really safe.
If you approach problems with the desire to understand the employee’s experience, you can gather data from all sides and come to the best solution for the agency as a whole.
These solutions may involve getting the employees together to hash out their differences, they may look like setting new policies and procedures, or they may look like letting someone go who ignored too many chances to change their behavior.
Part of having a safe workplace is protecting employees from each other or even from clients when necessary.
Another part of the equation is being approachable.
Leverage Employee Brilliance
You’ve hired great talent, so let them be great for you!
Give them the opportunity to share any ideas they’ve had to improve your agency. Processes, client relationships, services, products, training, their own skills… Nothing should be off the table.
However, they’re not going to share anything if they don’t feel that it would be in their best interest.
That does include creating a safe atmosphere for sharing ideas, but a safe working environment alone tends to lead to transparency of concerns more than ideas. Some may bring ideas out of reciprocity for the trust they’ve been given, but it can also help to incentivize various avenues of improving the agency as a whole.
The easiest way to handle this is to offer a flat rate bonus ($50, $100, $250, $500, etc) for each action you’d like to encourage.
I’ve seen this done effectively with referring employees and suggesting process improvements, but you could use it for suggesting a helpful tool or resource, a new training course or valuable conference, referring a new client, or anything else you’d like your clients to do for you.
Another note on employee brilliance is that you should, in addition to encouraging them to share suggestions or concerns in check-ins, you should also give them opportunities to brainstorm among themselves.
Consider setting up a recurring meeting for all of your specialists, client team, members of a pod, or any other combination that makes sense for your agency’s size.
The agenda should be to bring problems with specific clients and solve them together, with no idea being ignored or belittled. The safer your employees feel among each other, the more likely they are to come up with brilliant and innovative ideas to solve problems none of them could have solved on their own.
Summary
Employee check-ins are a great way to stay in communication with your employees in a safe way and on an individual basis.
Giving them your time and earnestly listening to their thoughts, concerns, and ideas will build trust and loyalty, reducing the chances of them leaving for another offer and increasing the odds that they bring such offers to you if they get them.
You can’t always keep good help forever, but developing sincere relationships built on mutual trust and transparent, proactive communication is a surefire way to keep your employees happy and loyal for as long as possible.
You won’t just keep them longer, though, they’ll also help your agency as much as possible while they’re with you.
Wouldn’t you say that’s worth it?
If you’re curious about how I work with agencies or if you’re frustrated with your agency’s profitability or retention of clients or employees, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll see how I can help. I never charge for the first consultation and if I can solve it in 30-minutes, there’s no reason to pay for my services and you walk away happy.
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