Employee Engagement

With the rise in remote work since the pandemic's arrival and the decrease in face-to-face connection, today's managers face real challenges assessing how satisfied their team members are with their jobs. The good news? There are solutions, like employee survey platforms, that measure engagement and can bridge the gap between you and your people, giving you an insightful view of how everyone feels.

Unlike generic online surveys that can seem dry and overwhelming, employee engagement surveys turn talking points into action items and action items into tangible outcomes.

Keep reading as we share some of the benefits of employee surveys and how they can help you perform as the leader your company needs.

‍

What is the purpose of employee surveys?

Above all, the purpose of employee engagement surveys is to determine employee sentiment and attitude: their levels of motivation for and commitment to their work with you and their satisfaction with your organization and the environment it provides.

{emphasize}

Officevibe Pulse Surveys on feedback found that:

• 37% of employees said they don't feel close with their manager
• 31% of employees wish their manager communicated more frequently with them, and 
• a whopping 96% of employees said receiving regular feedback is a good thing

{emphasize}

Other Officevibe data shows that many workers want open communication with their companies' leaders but don't often receive it, maybe because their supervisors are unaware of their communication needs.

The results of anonymous feedback from employee engagement surveys can open managers' eyes about how to establish quality communication with and between their team members.

{emphasize}

💡 Think of these surveys as market research for your workplace, encouraging your workers to respond personally. You'll find that your employees feel heard, and you'll be able to spot any potential discomfort before it becomes a problem.

{emphasize}

Putting collective energy and effort into employee surveys helps remove the guesswork from teambuilding, giving you the information you'll need to nurture and grow a more comfortable office environment. Surveys can gauge your peoples' satisfaction and help you set the course for a new communication style in your company. Initiating an honest feedback loop lets you gain insights and makes employees feel valued, giving them a stake in the company's future. Being heard matters.

The top 10 benefits of employee surveys

Surveys that encourage your team to express their satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) and suggest ways to enhance the corporate culture can serve as key drivers for increasing retention and productivity. With them, you can achieve the following.

1. Improve employee morale

Research shows most people appreciate a commitment to frequent communication. Collecting feedback from your team shows them that you're listening.

Using employee surveys, leaders like you can assess engagement and potential risks in your organization, department by department. The information you learn from analyzing an engagement survey can indicate how your teams feel about management style or any other specific issue. They can also highlight wins and achievements that may have gone unnoticed. Even if you can't implement every piece of feedback right away, you'll be able to tackle achievable short-term issues that benefit teams over the long term.

Employee engagement surveys can also highlight wins and achievements that may have gone unnoticed. They can offer a chance to address lingering conflicts or start essential conversations about performance and productivity. When you're aware, gathering feedback, and tapping into the latest news, you can recognize your team for their hard work—a surefire way to increase employee morale, especially when done consistently.

Once plugged into the emotional state of your company, you can foster a collaborative environment that encourages your people and gets them more engaged in their work. With the knowledge you glean from your customized survey, you'll have a fresh batch of topics to follow up with as you aim to understand your group better.

2. Detect knowledge gaps

Survey findings can help leaders identify possible knowledge gaps on the individual and team levels. Did everyone understand the objectives presented at the last company meeting? Do they know how they will play a part in contributing? Are they equipped to perform the necessary tasks?

Leaders can conduct surveys to drill in on job specifics. Survey results can quickly catch areas that could turn into costly mistakes. Whether it's a lack of complete comprehension or an undeveloped skill, detecting early means you can address them early either with training, mentoring, or dedicated one-on-one meetings.

3. Better employee health

Research studies have shown that poor communication can cause anxiety and depression, even inducing feelings of social isolation. Have you ever considered how mental health might be affecting your employees' work performance? Are their mistakes purely errors, or are they a result of feeling distracted, lonely, and disengaged at work?

[ov_cta id="5116629"]

One of the many benefits you gain when you ask for employee feedback is creating an open dialogue within your organization. Posing specific survey questions that they can freely answer will give many employees a safe way to express concerns weighing on their minds.

We all know, intuitively, that each of us benefits from compassionate leadership. When you use employee engagement surveys, you're opening up a space and inviting your workers to enjoy a direct line of communication with you. Hopefully, doing so will help to alleviate that feeling of isolation and improve employee satisfaction and mental health overall.

4. Happier employees

When you create a company culture that encourages open communication, you encourage employees to speak their minds and make mistakes without being afraid of rejection. Your team members can trust each other to give constructive criticism from a place of compassion.

Our Officevibe Pulse Survey data shows that 83% of employees appreciate receiving feedback, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. Be sure to find chances to give affirming and positive feedback informally and through formal channels if you want to nurture your workers' good feelings about the workplace.

Up-to-date feedback allows employees to do their jobs without the stress of feeling misunderstood. When you, as the employer, provide resources to managers to open lines of communication, the whole organization will benefit. Expressing expectations can provide much-needed clarity and lead to better job performance.

5. Improve employee safety

Surprisingly or not, engagement is also a matter of safety. Studies show that employees who feel more engaged with their jobs tend to have a higher awareness of their surroundings, leading to fewer safety incidents in the workplace.

Just as enhanced, engaged communication will boost employee morale, your survey data will give you insights about how engaged employees might become safer workers, too. You'll end up with a happier, healthier workplace, saving money and time as you lower risk.

Psychological safety also comes into play and is a key performance factor. 

Our data shows that 20% of team members do not feel like they can voice new ideas.

By offering your people tools like engagement surveys to communicate, you're offering a platform for them to speak up. When you foster a culture of open communication, you make way for creative thought and innovation.

6. Increase employee satisfaction

In this work from home era, finding fulfillment on the job requires engagement with the work itself and the people: managers, coworkers, clients, and other shareholders. Talking to faces on computer screens limits human interaction, and the lack of face-to-face encounters risks making people feel more alienated and less motivated or passionate about their work. The lack of connection can also reflect on satisfaction levels with supervisory relationships.

An all-in-one employee survey tool will measure engagement metrics like job satisfaction, along with things like peer relationships, wellness and stress, company alignment, and more.

By seeing survey responses and survey scores you can get an accurate insight into how your team is doing. From there, you can take the necessary steps to improve job satisfaction on your team. Further, by reporting on employee satisfaction levels, you're able to track and analyze whether your efforts to improve are viable over time. That's real progress!

7. Maintain higher retention

Very few people are mind readers. So it's safe to say that managers can't always know what's going on in their people's heads. It isn't always easy to gauge when people feel underappreciated or underutilized in their job. And a lack of recognition is one of the main drivers that cause employees to hit the road.

When employees don’t feel like their contributions count, they’ll seek out an environment where they do. So how can you make sure that your people feel like their voice is heard and concerns are addressed? Use an employee survey to tap into the current vibe and quickly learn about any possible challenges or disruptions.

{emphasize}

Officevibe has over 45 free employee survey templates (and counting!) to help. There's even an employee recognition needs survey that has questions to help you get to know what kind of recognition your team seeks and what makes it meaningful.

{emphasize}

8. Increase employee loyalty

An engaged, satisfied employee who's committed to their objectives and feels recognized by their company is less likely to leave. How can you, as a leader, make sure that these needs are met? Measure employee engagement regularly.

Providing a vehicle for your people's voices to be heard signals to them that you care about them and how they feel about the topics of the survey. How is peer-to-peer interaction these days? Are they feeling overwhelmed with the workload? Is there anything you can do as a manager to better support them with an upcoming initiative? Surveys provide insights so that you can take action.

Relationships are reciprocal. If any organization can care about its people, people will care about the organization.

9. Improve customer service

Have you ever tried to offer customers assistance while in a bad mood? It likely proved challenging to keep up the guise of friendliness and deliver customer satisfaction when you felt frustrated. Managers of companies find that the same is valid for employees. 

Wearing a smile is a chore when you feel burned out. If your management group can create a space where employees can express how they feel and then productively release some of that frustration, your company will ultimately see an improvement in their mood, their performance, and their satisfaction. That will move you in the right direction.

10. Create a catalyst for change

Conducting employee surveys allows you to gather data to discover otherwise unvoiced concerns. You can dramatically shift your company's culture by attending to these issues.

As you improve conditions for your people, everyone benefits. Happy employees stay longer, work harder, and simply make for a better working environment for all.

Can surveys improve employee engagement?

An employee engagement survey has the power to revive disengaged people. Ok, it's unlikely that just one survey can "do the trick." Instead, it's more about implementing a feedback culture that uses surveys as one of the tools and then acts on the feedback to motivate and encourage employees.

The potential for improving engagement is endless, but you'll only see behavioral change if you act on the employee survey results.

[ov_cta id="5116629"]

For example, you could discover that your staff's primary concern is a lack of feedback and encouragement. Solution? You could collaborate with your team to develop an improved feedback system.

You might also follow up with struggling team members to offer enhanced support and resources or find ways to reward excellent work better, utilize individual skills, or increase employee benefits.

Why is it important to survey your employees?

Employee engagement surveys can help leaders understand areas where their teams struggle, feel dissatisfied, or require extra support. Understanding your employees' needs is part of being a good leader, and engagement surveys are one of many resources that can help you and your team succeed.

How do we do it? With Officevibe's Pulse Survey tool. It's an entirely turn-key solution that empowers employees, collecting, analyzing, and suggesting improvements based on their feedback. Use it to find the knowledge you need to lead with confidence while building trust with your team.

Let's face it: giving employee feedback can be challenging. From having difficult conversations about performance to making one-on-one feedback more effective, you have to juggle choosing the right time, delivery method, and strategic approach.

Team leaders have the crucial (and sometimes stressful) role of giving real-time feedback to employees in a way that will help them develop their expertise, work collaboratively and effectively, and earn respect.

Great leaders understand that giving employee feedback is essential for ongoing workplace development. Feedback conversations improve employee performance, provide valuable insights, and facilitate efficient teamwork. 

The "why" solicit feedback as part of performance management can be crystal clear. Yet the "how" can be more daunting...until now.

Read on to learn how to provide employee feedback to improve the work experience for everyone.

‍

Why it's important to give employee feedback

Employees want feedback because it helps them know what they're doing well and where they can improve. Ultimately, providing continuous constructive feedback to employees helps them develop in their role, which is one of the top factors determining long-term engagement and retention. 

According to Officevibe's Pulse Survey data:

• 1 in 4 employees say they don't receive feedback often enough to understand how they can improve;
• 1 in 5 employees aren't satisfied with how often they get feedback from their direct manager;
• Employees who do receive feedback say that it helps them grow and develop. These employees also tend to report a better working relationship with their manager.

Discover more on the importance of employee feedback and some related statistics of employee feedback.

6 ways to give effective and constructive employee feedback

Providing constructive feedback is one of the best ways to cultivate stronger relationships, spark employee engagement, and retain employees. 

But where should team leaders start? Don't worry. We've got you. Here are six tips on giving effective employee feedback, from communication skills and delivery to timing and tone.

Give specific feedback

According to Officevibe's Pulse Survey software, one in three employees say the feedback they receive at work isn't super-specific. Team leaders should avoid being vague and affirm actions they want to see repeated.

Research in the Journal of Applied Psychology backs that finding and shows that the best way to improve performance when giving feedback is to make it specific and tie it to a specific goal. Next time goals come up in your employee's performance reviews, keep this in mind! Without a specific goal, it becomes hard to evaluate the effects of behavior change properly. 

Pro-tip: Officevibe's goal-setting agenda makes setting and tracking goals with each member of your team easy. Work together to draft personal goals for each employee based on the SMART model, all in the app!

Emphasize facts, not feelings

People need manager feedback to grow and develop. But if the delivery feels like an attack, team members are more likely to get defensive and shut down when receiving feedback. Sticking to the facts and keeping a professional tone is crucial to providing constructive, valuable feedback that sticks.

💡Check out our top 12 manager feedback examples.

When it comes to giving negative feedback, The Harvard Business Review recommends starting the conversation by noting exactly when and where the behavior you want to discuss occurred. Describe in detail what you saw and heard. Describe your reaction to the behavior. 

A fact-based, non-judgmental approach means the employee is less likely to get defensive and more likely to consider your feedback seriously.

Give honest, direct feedback

An important part of giving constructive feedback is simply being honest and direct. To soften negative feedback, managers will often adopt "the sandwich approach," where you put feedback between two pieces of praise to make the feedback sound less harsh.

But this often doesn't work.

Research shows that a straightforward, direct approach will make employees more likely to listen to their feedback. 

Want to put this into action? Learn how to give feedback with these 5 best practices for managers

Find the right time

Timing is key for effective communication. Finding the right time to provide feedback is one of the most important things to consider. In most situations, the best time to give employee feedback is soon after the incident has occurred. 

The longer you wait to give feedback, the longer you will be affected by what you didn't share with your employee—and the longer your employee's actions will remain the same.

What if the feedback is negative or high-stakes? Set aside deliberate time to ensure both you and your direct report are in an empathetic, prepared state. 

A regular one-on-one is a good time for this type of constructive feedback. A staff meeting where other team members are present might not be. 

Looking forward to give constructive feedback right on time? Check out the constructive feedback examples & tips for managers

Earn respect

While it may seem obvious, treating your team members with respect is one of the best ways to earn their respect. And no matter how structured or polite your feedback is, an employee won't listen to it if they don't respect you. 

Employees who say that their manager is respectfully giving feedback, also believe that their manager cares about their opinion. Sadly, only 43% of employees say feedback is given in a truly respectful manner.

According to the American Psychological Association, a team leader must be seen as a "credible source of advice." If not, you won't be listened to.

Employees need to feel as if you have their best interests at heart. Earning respect takes time, but it's clutch to garner that positive interaction and positive behavior you're looking to get from your feedback. 

Make it a two-way feedback conversation

It can be difficult to get people to accept feedback, especially when it's negative. Instead of resorting to the aforementioned "sandwich approach," the Harvard Business Review recommends having performance conversations powered by teamwork.

Rather than relying on a feedback hierarchy, the article states, team leaders should consider a model that increases two-way conversation with employees.

[ov_cta id="5116548"]

For example, managers can ask employees to give themselves feedback on their own work. Ask them something like, "How do you think that went? Was there anything you think you could improve on for next time?" Our classic one-on-one template suggests prompts for everything from setting employee goals to checking in and setting action items.  

The right one-on-one template helps make every conversation focused and productive, fostering trust and setting the conditions for positive, lasting change.

Balancing positive and negative feedback

Maintaining a healthy balance is crucial when providing feedback. According to the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) research, negative and positive feedback are essential to helping managers offer support. Leaders who excel know how to enhance their employees' best qualities while also addressing those that need work. 

Negative feedback

Giving negative feedback or constructive criticism can be daunting, but great leaders know it's crucial to helping team members meet their performance goals, despite the strong emotions that can arise. 

Critical feedback should offer someone a perspective on behavior or action to help them improve. According to the CCL, practical criticism needs to be delivered with respect and care. Frequent or exclusively negative comments can spark defensive reactions that dampen motivations. 

Positive feedback

We all need a pat on the back every once in a while. Recognizing the strengths in a workplace and showing appreciation for your employees and colleagues is equally important to workplace development and ongoing learning. 

Managers can provide support by giving recognition and telling their team members they did a great job. Providing positive feedback can set the scene for further effective feedback conversations.

Constructive feedback

When managers provide positive feedback and provide negative feedback to have a two-way conversation with their employees, they help employees grow, support them toward their goals and build on their strengths. According to the CCL, you'll foster more learning by asking questions that stimulate reflection and coaching people into exploration and experimentation. 

Employee feedback can take many forms. It can be informal, like a simple "good job!" after a team member's presentation, or more formal, like written feedback during an annual performance review. To get a complete picture, you may even want to get feedback from other team members via a 360-degree feedback format. 

Looking for more constructive employee feedback examples? Here are our top employee feedback examples for real-life situations

How Pulse Surveys create a strong feedback culture

Giving feedback is a crucial skill for a manager aiming to help everyone on their team reach those growth goals. It's an opportunity for you to demonstrate your investment in the professional development of your team members. 

[ov_cta id="5116548"]

A key part of maintaining your team's health and improving as a manager is getting employee feedback. Establishing effective feedback channels makes it easier to keep up with what's enabling or blocking your team's success. 

Here's another way of looking at the feedback loop:

When employees give feedback, it helps employee experience.

When managers give feedback, it helps the team and individual employees.

The more feedback exchange of give-and-receive, the more you set a tone for a solid and receptive feedback culture. Over time, the more this culture gets integrated into the day-to-day. 

Pro-tip: Show employees you're open and interested in their feedback by sending Pulse Surveys. These short, 2-minute, anonymous weekly surveys give your team a safe space to share their thoughts and make it easier for leaders to take action.

Prioritizing employee engagement and satisfaction

Employee pulse surveys are the best and the most accurate way to measure employee engagement levels and job satisfaction. Getting anonymous written feedback in each survey can open up discussions you might not have otherwise. And from there, you can offer your support and give positive feedback where it counts. Being open and adaptive to the needs of your team and making employee satisfaction a priority is what distinguishes a good leader from a great one. 

Despite the journey through some very uncertain times, one thing's for sure: the future of work is not tethered to an office. If you’ve been a member of the workforce during the past few years, you’ve almost definitely heard the terms “remote work”, and “distributed work”. They’ve become unavoidable in our vernacular since the 2019 pandemic hit. While the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a nuance to note. 

Whichever your company follows, the abrupt shift to dispersed workplaces required teams and companies to adapt, quickly.  In this article, we’ll explain the difference between remote and distributed teams as well as surface the advantages and limitations of our new way of work. Ultimately we’ll help team leaders grasp how to engage their people, no matter where they are.

Hint: the distributed workforce requires both a new technological and social contract.

{emphasize}

In this article, we cover the basics of distributed and remote teams

• What is a distributed team?
• What is a remote team?
• What are some challenges of distributed teams?
• How to engage employees on a distributed team?

{emphasize}

What is a distributed team? 

The distributed work model de-prioritizes location as a factor when it comes to hiring.

Distributed teams consist of multiple employees who work in a variety of different locations. They can consist of remote workers located anywhere geographically, but it can also refer to teams where some employees work in a head office and some are remote. It does not necessarily mean that everyone works remotely, and there is often a corporate HQ. 

At Officevibe we live and breathe the distributed work model. Our set of best practices for distributed teams will help leaders thrive in remote work environments.

What is a remote team? 

The concept of remote work means that there is somewhere to be remote from. Like distributed teams, remote teams are also composed of individuals who work apart from one another but it doesn’t mean that they are distributed around the world. The idea is that certain virtual team members work remotely away from the office and other remote team members. Companies might set up their remote teams by hiring employees who live within a close geographical distance that may decide to periodically meet at the office. Remote workers often benefit from some amount of flexibility in their day. 

A hybrid remote model is one where some team members work in the office while others work from either their respective homes, co-working spaces, or even coffee shops.

So, what’s the difference between remote and distributed teams? 

From a location perspective, a distributed team is typically spread out across time zones and geographical boundaries. More often than not, they don’t physically work together.

Remote teams on the other hand are in closer proximity to one another and tend to see each other more often at the office. But, they still have the option to work from home or elsewhere during the week. 

Even if the terms are sometimes used to describe different situations, the concepts of remote and distributed work are in fact complementary.

Remote work is a concept that is used on a singular or relational level. By definition, any employee working from home can be described as a remote worker. It can mean working from home for one day or a whole year. This can be an agreement between the employee and his manager.

On the other hand, the concept of distributed work applies itself to the whole organization. Alignment in the company is crucial to the success of distributed teams. Here's a quick sentence to highlight the link between the two concepts.

"A remote worker can be part of a distributed team"

What are the benefits of distributed teams? 

Employees have unanimously praised the distributed workforce model for many reasons, enough so that many offices have decided to go fully remote. We’ve collectively begun to realize that work is not about a “space”, it’s about people - wherever they may be. Here are some commonly cited benefits of working on a distributed team. 

Flexibility

Workers and leaders alike are enjoying greater flexibility in their schedules and more control over how they spend their days in a way that is most productive to them. Without the commute to work, remote employees are able to implement more meaningful morning and evening rituals that likewise offer a greater sense of work-life balance. 

More diversity in hiring

Not needing to hire from one place opens the doors to talent across geographical barriers. Bringing in workers from different backgrounds and cultures brings new perspectives to distributed teams, leading to greater innovation. 

Lower overhead

Without a brick-and-mortar location, distributed companies automatically save costs that can be allocated to things like team building, tools, as well as training and development opportunities for your team.

Employee retention: The distributed model gained a lot of popularity over the last two years. For many companies, distributed work is not a differentiating factor anymore. By offering more flexibility to your team members, you are improving the overall employee experience and contributing to retaining talent.

What are some challenges of distributed teams? 

While it’s clear that the majority of employees prefer the distributed and remote work models, there are likewise limitations that pop up. Some common distributed teams challenges include:

Less oversight over team engagement

Without the visual cues, it’s harder for managers to really understand how their distributed team members are feeling. Are they happy? Are they enjoying working remotely with their peers? Are they thinking of leaving? These things are tough to gauge through a screen. This is why the market for team engagement tools has seen extensive growth. It’s also our bread and butter.

how we can help…

Officevibe allows managers to have a real-time overview of their team’s “health” via pulse surveys. These surveys collect continuous data on workers’ sentiments across 10 metrics of employee engagement. Workers are also given the chance to submit anonymous feedback on various work-related topics, while managers are given the chance to take action on problems before people leave. 

Try Officevibe for free with your team!

Connection

The best teams run on trust, connection, and positive relationships, but nurturing this through a screen it’s not always easy. Without casual hallways run-ins and team lunches, the moments we have to connect in our new distributed realities are few and far between. Managers must make it a point to get “bonding” time on the books. This doesn’t mean icebreakers or formal team building, it just means intentionally setting aside time for the team to get to know one another outside of work-related meetings. 

Collaboration

While employees might now work individually vis-a-vis location, this doesn’t mean we want workers to work in silos. Companies need their people to collaborate well - to jive - because this is when innovation happens. But what once took place in white-board lined conference rooms, now occurs virtually. Integrating tools like Miro is a great start, but it must be coupled with setting a safe space for idea-sharing. 

How do you engage team members in a distributed team? 

Employee engagement is a critical component of distributed team success. To engage your distributed team, follow these three fundamental rules:

Trust them

Don’t micromanage. Trust that just because your team is out of sight it doesn’t mean that they stopped working. You hired them for a reason. Let them prove it to you. How do you demonstrate trust? Check in at the right moments, but don’t overdo it.  While your intentions might be good, “hovering” can be perceived as mistrust. 

Hold frequent 1-on-1 meetings

Get weekly 1-on-1s on the books to ensure that you and each individual employee have time to connect. There are two key elements to touch on in our 1on-1 meetings: relationship building and alignment on work. Before you get to the nitty-gritty of their work, remember to check in as people first. And then, of course, be sure to align on expectations! Employees without a clear sense of direction are like a car without a steering wheel. 

Keep team culture alive

Culture may have been splashed over the walls of your office, but how are you keeping it alive across your distributed team? Take the time to set new team values and determine together how you will live them in your day-to-day. For example, one of our distributed team values is “prioritize wellbeing”, and to live this, we encourage one another to leave the house and take a walk during lunch hour. 

Before you go, don’t forget…

Officevibe is a hybrid work software built for leaders with distributed teams. Automate understanding how your team is feeling on both a social and professional level so you can master team engagement without adding to the work pile. Try it with your distributed team for free!

It's no surprise that employee retention and reducing turnover are top of mind for many managers and leaders at the end of a long year of record-high resignations.

Nearly 50 years later, understanding and counteracting those forces that send employees searching for their next opportunity remains paramount to business leaders. Improving ways to attract, engage, and retain top talent is at the forefront of many organizations’ objectives as we all adjust to the changing world of work.

So let’s drill into the hard facts about employee retention. What are the statistics about what keeps people around? And most importantly, what can we learn from these facts and figures? How can they empower better engagement and retention strategies for a workforce with a new set of rules and expectations? Let's find out.

‍

Why is employee retention so important?

Finding ways to improve employee retention is essential for companies that want to stay competitive in a fierce market. And, investing in employee retention strategies is necessary to maintain output, keep up team performance, and avoid lost productivity. It takes new employees time to ramp up, and when long-term employees leave, they take along their wealth of knowledge.

What’s more, constantly adjusting as team members come and go means decreased employee morale. This impacts everything from employee engagement to team collaboration and, ultimately, business success. If high employee turnover becomes the norm, even your most engaged employees could start to look for greener pastures.

This domino effect is one of the causes of high employee turnover, and it can happen for several reasons, like:

• Employees are assigned tasks outside of their role
• People take on more responsibility without a formal promotion
• Peer relationships and team dynamics take a hit
• Great managers are lost, and their direct reports are unsupported
• People are inspired by others taking on new challenges

Whether you're dealing with voluntary turnover or involuntary turnover, it can quickly start to snowball. So before you lose your high-performing employees, get a handle on the facts around employee retention and turnover. That way, you'll be equipped to improve employee retention on your team or at your organization.

57% of knowledge workers are open to new job opportunities in the next year

This number increases to 71% for employees who are dissatisfied with their level of flexibility. And for those who lack a sense of belonging, the number inches to 72%, according to the Fall 2021 report from Future Forum and HBR. The report also found that employees who feel their company lacks transparency around post-pandemic remote work policies are 17.3% more likely to look for a new job in the coming year.

One point here is clear: people want to have more freedom around where and when they work. They also want an employer who's open about their flexible work policies. But a sense of belonging is also a significant factor in why employees quit. A company culture where people feel like they're part of a community is a competitive advantage that helps retain employees.

{emphasize}

Create community from afar. If you're a remote or hybrid workforce, establish rituals that help everyone feel more connected. You might host a weekly virtual social hour where your team plays an online game together. Or, you can make it a point to have more impactful meeting check-ins when you come together as a team. Remote work can be a barrier to belonging, but a little extra effort goes a long way.

{emphasize}

The number 1 reason employees leave is a lack of opportunity...

A lack of career opportunities is a top-cited reason for employees leaving their jobs, Gallup reports. Professional development is absolutely essential for employee retention. People want to grow, apply themselves, gain new skills, and expand in their roles. If employees don't have the opportunity to advance their career at their current job, they'll find that opportunity elsewhere.

...and 28% of employees say they don't have opportunities to grow

Officevibe's Pulse Surveys—which measure employee sentiments at over 5,000 companies worldwide—reveal that 28% of employees don't feel they have opportunities to grow at their current employer. Creating those opportunities is one of the most high-impact methods of improving retention rates. And ultimately, the highly engaged employees who want to develop and grow in their roles are the ones you really want to keep around.

{emphasize}

Make room for growth. To engage new hires from their first day, they need to have a clear sense of how they'll grow in their role and at your company. People should be encouraged to apply for positions that open up internally in other departments or at higher levels.

Employee development has to be a priority for managers. To make it one, they should talk to their direct reports about their career ambitions every 3-6 months at a minimum.

{emphasize}

Only 30% of employees say they're really doing what they do best

Taking a step back from growth opportunities, people also want to be applying themselves in their current roles. A driven purpose is a baseline for a positive employee experience. Yet, just 30% of employees say they genuinely have the opportunity to do what they do best in their role in Officevibe's Pulse Surveys.

Make sure that your employees have clear roles and responsibilities, starting at the hiring stage. Monitor whether people are taking on too much that falls outside of their job description. And if it does happen, act swiftly to find solutions. Of course, you want to have team players who can collaborate and pitch in as needed. But to keep people around long-term, they need to feel valued for their expertise. And that means making sure that the majority of their workload is within their role.

{highlight}

When you have a clear view of how people feel, it's easier to keep your retention rates in check. Job seekers want an employer who values them, listens to their feedback, and continually strives to improve company culture. Collect employee feedback and take action on your turnover rate with Officevibe.

{highlight}

Of employees who recently quit, 54% felt undervalued by their company

Feeling undervalued was a big driver for employees who had recently left their jobs, recent research from McKinsey found. Not only were they feeling undervalued by their company, but 52% of the employees who had recently quit reported feeling undervalued by their manager. Recognizing employees is one of the simplest ways to tackle your turnover rate—yet another reason why employee recognition is so important.

When employees don't feel like their contributions count, they'll seek out an environment where they do. But employees are more likely to be engaged and will stay with your company longer when they feel appreciated. This is why it's important to drive a culture of recognition, where managers consistently acknowledge that employees play a key role in bringing the company's mission to life.

{highlight}

For more on the impact of appreciation, read our 5 employee recognition statistics you need to know.

{highlight}

In 2021, 74% of employees reported experiencing burnout at work

In June of 2021, Gallup found that 74% of employees said they experienced burnout at work at least sometimes. Yet, Gallup still found people in their study who had a near-zero risk of experiencing employee burnout. Burnout doesn't have to be so widespread, and when companies focus on wellbeing, it can really impact their employee retention rate.

{emphasize}

The differentiators Gallup found in those who were low-risk for burnout were:

• Engagement at work
• High wellbeing
• A workplace culture that celebrates strengths

{emphasize}

52% of exiting employees say their manager could have done something

According to Gallup's exit strategy report, 52% of exiting employees say that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job. But only 28% of those exiting employees say they spoke to their manager about leaving before they quit.

To stop employee turnover before it happens, managers need to be talking to their direct reports about job satisfaction. If a manager isn't aware that someone wants to work remotely, wants better work-life balance, or feels they deserve a pay raise until the employee leaves for a new job, they can't work to implement those solutions that will keep them around.

{emphasize}

Don't skip your one-on-ones. One-on-one meetings are a crucial part of ongoing manager-employee communication. These are the moments managers can detect signs of decreased employee engagement. Likewise, they're a moment for employees to raise concerns or challenges. A good employee retention rate starts with strong manager-employee relationships.

{emphasize}

49% of people surveyed didn't discuss key employee engagement and retention topics before they left

In the same exit strategy report from Gallup, nearly half of the employees who had left their jobs said they didn't discuss any of the following topics with a superior in the 3 months before they left:

• Their job satisfaction
• The future of their career with the organization
• What it takes to do their job effectively
• What it would take for them to stay with the organization if they had expressed concerns about needing to leave their job

Managers can't address what they don't see. If not asked, employees might not speak up. To keep employees engaged and address any issues, managers need to spark conversations with their direct reports about how they can succeed in their job and what might drive them to leave.

Employee turnover is expensive. Replacing employees costs 1/2 - 2x their annual salary

Filling a role that pays $50k a year can cost between $25k and $100k, Gallup reports. A high employee turnover rate gets expensive, fast. If this isn't the business case to invest in improving workforce retention, we don't know what is. These are the employee turnover statistics you might be looking for to sell your boss on your employee retention initiative. You're welcome.

Only 14% of employees fully trust that pay is determined fairly at their company

And, just 18% of people fully trust that they're paid fairly compared to similar roles within their organization. That drops to 16% when compared to similar positions at other companies. These statistics come from Officevibe's Pulse Surveys, which measure employee sentiments at over 5,000 companies worldwide.

An employee's salary greatly influences their job satisfaction and, in turn, your company's employee retention rate. But compensation can feel like a taboo subject, which only fuels any suspicions people might have about whether they have a competitive salary.

{emphasize}

The antidote to distrust is transparency. New hires should have the compensation model explained to them in their onboarding process. Clear documentation must be easily accessible to all employees. Questions and conversations around pay should be encouraged, and happen more often than an annual performance review.

{emphasize}

Employee retention statistics help you understand and support your team

Getting a grasp of key employee retention statistics helps you better understand what drives employee engagement. Not only that, it helps you spot what might lead to employee turnover on your team. And keeping an eye on the retention statistics at your company and on your team, like calculating your turnover rate and retention rate, helps you spot any fluctuations and take action before it's too late.

The bottom line is that employees want a manager who hears and supports them and a company culture that reflects their values. Managers having regular conversations with employees about growth, development, satisfaction, and engagement is key to keeping your star players on your team.

Use these employee retention statistics to establish an unbeatable employee experience at your organization. Remember, not everyone wants exactly the same thing from their job. That's why checking in regularly to understand what makes people truly happy is so important. It shows employees that they're valued. In turn, they'll stick around.

This article is a guest post from Softstart, the all-in-one onboarding platform to start your new hires off on the right foot.

Onboarding new hires is a concept most employers are familiar with by now. But what about onboarding current employees for new roles? With more companies investing into their internal mobility programs, cross-boarding is something every leader should be thinking about. Whether someone gets promoted or makes a lateral move, setting them up to properly integrate into their new role is essential to their success.

There are many benefits to having existing employees transition into new positions, like high engagement and retention rates. Plus, there's the advantage of hiring employees with deeper cross-functional knowledge. So it’s important for companies to adapt this type of onboarding process accordingly.

{emphasize}

• Cross-boarding vs. onboarding: what’s the difference?
• What are the benefits of cross-boarding?
• What should be included in the cross-boarding process?

{emphasize}

Cross-boarding vs. onboarding: what’s the difference?

We’ve previously covered the basics of onboarding, and how to engage new hires from their first day. In a way, the objectives for cross-boarding are similar, save for the fact that you’re dealing with current employees. And just like good onboarding leads to long-term employee retention, proper cross-boarding can help reduce your turnover rate, too.

In a nutshell, cross-boarding is the process of transitioning an existing employee into a new role. It's how you ensure they're supported, ready to take on new responsibilities, engaged and productive.

Unlike onboarding, cross-boarding happens when you source candidates from existing staff to fill a job position, rather than hire externally. Cross-boarding can be relevant in the case of preparing someone who got promoted to a new role, or supporting an employee joining another department or switching expertise.

Examples of cross-boarding

{highlight}

After a year of working as a coordinator, John has been promoted to become a manager. Even if his projects and team are the same, he'll have new responsibilities, tasks and tools to master as management is a very different reality.

{highlight}

Lana works as a planner for her firm, but her passion is graphic design. When she heard that a graphic designer role opened up internally, she applied and got the job. Lana is already familiar with many company tools and processes, but she will still have to learn the ropes of her new role.

Blake is a team lead for the Telecom account. When there was an opportunity to become team lead for the Airline account, he took it. While his title doesn’t change, the nature of the account, team and tools are different.

What are the benefits of cross-boarding?

Cross-boarding can be a situation where all parties win. Employees get to experience new, positive challenges, and employers benefit from its time and cost saving nature—and then some.

• Cost-effective: Onboarding isn’t cheap. According to Deloitte, it can cost on average $4,000 and take 24 days to hire a new employee from sourcing, interviewing and integrating them into the company. Cross-boarding fills a role by internal hire, with someone who’s already been screened. Sometimes, the answer is right under your nose.
• Faster productivity: It takes between 1 to 2 years for a new hire to reach their peak of productivity. To really integrate a corporate culture and get the hang of tools, it takes some ramp-up. With cross-boarding, the person assuming a new role can fast track into being productive much earlier. They're already well integrated, familiar with company processes and comfortable with tools.
• Reinforced employee engagement: Onboarding done right can set the tone for employee engagement and lower turnover in the future. Cross-boarding does the same. Cross-boarding allows existing employees to develop new skills, grow in their career and feel recognized, lending to higher job satisfaction and motivation.
• Better long-term retention: Aligning with the above point, better engagement means better retention. When employers invest in cross-boarding, it tells employees that there are growth opportunities available internally. When you consider that 82% of people leave their job due to no career progression, it’s a real competitive advantage to make room for cross-boarding.
• Strengthen company culture: Company values and culture are represented through an organization's structure and decision-making. When a company puts effort toward cross-boarding, it shows that they care about and supports their employees' successes. This is a company employees will be proud to endorse.

What should be included in the cross-boarding process?

It's very easy to overlook cross-boarding. Many employers assume that because existing employees have already benefited from an onboarding experience when they were first hired, they don’t need structured support to transition into a new role. Trust when we say that investing in creating cross-boarding plans is a must.

Good news: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If you’ve created an onboarding template, you can borrow from this and adapt it to fit the needs of an existing employee. You might skip certain aspects like company culture integration activities. But activities related to new tasks, responsibilities and team(s) should remain.

Cross-boarding checklist must-haves:

• A checklist of items from their new and former manager to ensure the employee transition is smooth. Things like preparing a handover document of the employee’s former role, or a shadowing day to learn about new tasks.
• New professional goals and milestones related to the new role. This ensures the employee is clear on what is expected of them in their new responsibilities, and set up for development.
• A schedule with regular check-ins and meetings with the new manager. This is also an opportunity to collect feedback from the employee, making sure they're happy and checking if there's anything they need to perform better.
• Regular progress review sessions to measure performance in their new role and responsibilities. They can meet with their new manager for a 30-day performance review, 60-day review, and 90-day review.
• An assigned new buddy and/or mentor who can help the cross-boarded employee better integrate their new team, new department, and new responsibilities.

Just like with new hires, it's crucial to ensure that existing employees transitioning into new roles feel guided and supported with a structured plan to feel confident and engaged.

With managers already fans of Softstart’s onboarding templates for new hires, we also offer cross-boarding templates with a set of suggested pre-designed, customizable activities!

Cross-boarding is just as essential as (if not more than) onboarding

Think about it: cross-boardng is like onboarding, but with employees you’re already invested tremendous time and resources on. It would be a shame not to leverage engagement opportunities and already profitable staff members. Plus, a cross-boarded employee reaches peak productivity faster in their new role—so you’ll see a return on investment quicker than you would, had you invested in an external hire for a role.

Fact: the modern workforce is filled with more dispersed teams than ever before.

The people have spoken.

Flexibility, increased wellbeing, and time saved without a commute are the most commonly cited advantages for remote workers. But with these 'perks' also comes the responsibility of employers to take a deeper look at the day-to-day distributed team challenges.

They might seem benign on the surface, but if not proactively addressed, they can hinder performance, engagement, and even drive turnover. There are new rules (and tools) that employers need to get on board with if they want to keep their distributed teams intact and attract top talent in this ever-competitive hiring landscape.

We look at the most pressing issues of distributed teams in today’s workforce, along with proven solutions that dispersed teams can put in place for a successful year ahead.

{emphasize}

6 Common challenges for distributed teams, and how to fix them:

• 1. Feelings of disconnect among the team
• 2. Productivity issues
• 3. Difficulty maintaining culture
• 4. Decreased oversight & communication
• 5. Less creativity & innovation
• 6. The loneliness epidemic

{emphasize}

6 common distributed team challenges (and how to fix them)

1. Feelings of disconnect among new and existing team members

Challenge: A common distributed team challenge is the “connection gap”. The ability to build and maintain genuine connection with people in the workplace from behind a screen.

There’s nothing like showing up to the office building on Monday morning and chit chatting about the weekend over a morning coffee, or lunching with colleagues from other departments, engaging in inspiring conversations that spark new ideas.

These moments of sporadic connection enhance team dynamics, humanize work, build a sense of belonging, and create collaborative bridges from one team to another. On the flip side, working remotely can create silos: we often lunch alone, and we rarely “see” team members from other departments.

Solution: Leaders must be mindful of this “connection gap” and be intentional about virtually simulating scenarios where people can interact genuinely. Thoughtfully investing in moments for virtual teams to come together for in-person workshops, bonding experiences, and strategy sessions can be a budget and coordination challenge. But, these moments are critical in creating company ambassadors, driving engagement and performance, and mitigating employee attrition.

What can’t be done in person, should take place virtually. Ultimately though, it’s a mindset. Do not neglect to prioritize human connection, because the work will always prove to be better and more innovative when connection and trust is at its base.

2. Productivity issues

Challenge: Productivity issues don’t necessarily refer to your employees’ inability to manage their time. In fact, many employees report feeling more productive working remotely! Where productivity issues creep in are at the process level.

When there’s no unified “code of conduct” for how to work remotely, teams risk working in different ways across different tools. These norms and tools ensure that every team works from the same baseline. And this cuts out any unnecessary confusion, so employees can focus on delivering great work.

Read more on Officevibe's distributed teams best practices and what makes the way we work unique.

Solution: Take the time to set meaningful norms and choose your tools for working remotely. Working norms refers to guidelines for how to work best together. For example, we determined that meetings can only be held between 10am - 4pm to leave time for focus work at the beginning and end of the day.

When it comes to tools, here’s what we use internally:

1. Slack for daily communication tool
2. Jira as one of our main project management tools
3. Microsoft Teams for internal video meetings
4. Zoom for external video meetings
5. Confluence and SharePoint to save documents and record learnings
6. Miro as an asynchronous collaboration tool
7. Officevibe for effective distributed team management

3. Difficulty maintaining team and company culture

Challenge: For companies that shifted from working in the office to remote work, it’s important to recognize that your culture will not automatically transfer. Effort needs to be made to keep it alive and reflected in your remote team and company’s new work reality.

Here’s the thing: culture will happen no matter what, so it’s important to be intentional about it if you want to get it right.

Modern employees expect that the values a company preaches are brought to life in their organizations day-to-day operations and the way they're managed. But the shift to distributed teams has in many instances let culture fall through the cracks.

Solution: Take stock of how you were living your values while in the office. Ensure that whatever was not transferable to a distributed workplace is re-imagined to function in a remote reality.

Leaders and team managers need to ideate on how values will be lived and experienced across their remote teams in a way that feels genuine. Don’t be afraid to set up new traditions, reflect on whether your current values are still relevant, and even ask your employees for input. It’s the glue that will hold your distributed team together.

4. Decreased team oversight and communication

Challenge: No more water cooler chat, hallway banter, or a quick “pop in” to your manager’s office. All communications in a distributed workforce are now planned ones, meaning there risks being less of them. This poses a “threat” to the oversight managers have on their team’s wellbeing and engagement. Informal communication opportunities like those sporadic check-ins were a helpful lens onto how people were doing, and what they needed.

Solution: With the shift to distributed work, the benefits of pulse survey and feedback tools have become a remote work essential (if not saving grace) for team and company leaders. Officevibe lets leaders collect real-time data on how their people are doing, and what they really need to be successful and happy in their roles. Basically, it allows problems to surface before they become big issues, and also gives a safe space for employees to communicate their feedback whenever they have something on their minds.

It’s the virtual version of “my door’s always open,” leaving communication lines widely accessible.

The shift to distributed work comes with a handful of new communication challenges. Use an employee experience tool like Officevibe to give your team members a safe space to share their thoughts and feedback!

5. Less creativity and innovation in brainstorms

Challenge: There’s nothing like an in-person brainstorm. Post-its flying every which way with innovative ideas that spur creative discussions. This was when greatness happened. While we’ve been able to bring brainstorms from the whiteboard to a Miro board, the tool itself (while fantastic for facilitating these sessions) is not enough. The missing link to innovation is the inspiring human dynamic, which distributed teams need to foster, even between screens.

Solution: Jumping from one video session to another throughout the day can be an inspiration killer and a drain on your creative juices. If you’re hosting a team brainstorm, we suggest taking a moment before getting started. People share the most when they feel they’re in a safe space with trusted individuals. If you want to unearth the wacky ideas that lead to innovation, set the tone. Get human.

Icebreaker questions to loosen up the team:

1. What colour would best describe your mood today?
2. If you were to write a book, what would the theme be?
3. What’s something you think your team does really well together?

{emphasize}

Our favourite creative prompt to get you thinking out of the box:

“Imagine you're Michelle Obama or you work for her, what would your idea be or what would you pitch to her?” Have each team member take a spin at this exercise.

{emphasize}

{emphasize}

Expand your mind and take it to unexpected places:

Select a random object (could be anything from an apple to a paperclip) and ask the team to brainstorm on the different ways this object can be used. It might start off practical, but the longer you spend on this the more creative the ideas will get.

{emphasize}

6. The loneliness epidemic

Challenge: We’ve spoken a lot about connection in this article. The importance of scheduling time for virtual teams to connect on a personal level can't be overstated. It ensures that team dynamics and collaboration are optimized. In the same vein, leaders need to have the awareness that people’s lives have changed outside of the workplace.

Many people relied on the socialization they had in the office.

While the bulk of people prefer remote work, many still do not. Without being able to see people at the office, it’s hard to know how people are feeling holistically. It’s hard to determine work-life balance, and how people are faring working from home full time.

Solution: The best tool for checking in on your people in a meaningful way is one-on-one meetings. These meetings should occur weekly, and allow a safe space for employees to get real. While one-on-ones are important for discussions around performance and development, checking in on a human level should always take precedence. The great thing is that these transparent, vulnerable moments help build great trust between leaders and their team members. The power of asking “how are you?” can go a long way.

Officevibe’s one-on-one feature allows both managers and employees to share their talking points ahead of time. It even prompts managers with great questions to ask their team members to check in. Below are a few questions from our software that we think might be helpful for you.

{emphasize}

Officevibe 1-on-1 prompts to check in on your people:

1. How are you feeling today?
2. How have you been feeling over the last couple of weeks?
3. Are you feeling overworked or overwhelmed with work?
4. What can I help you with?
5. What’s your current state of mind?

{emphasize}

The distributed workforce model is the new normal, meaning it’s time for leaders to get on board with the new norms of virtual teams and remote work. To thrive as an organization in the modern workforce, adapting your communication technology, approach to culture and methods of collaboration are essential to remain competitive.

If you’ve ever spent time hiring and recruiting new employees, you’ll understand why it can be so disappointing when a person you’ve nurtured and helped grow suddenly departs. The negative rippling effects can be felt throughout your team and even your organization, especially if you're experiencing high employee turnover.

On the flip side, when you’re able to increase employee retention, you’ll enjoy a more stable team, consistency in work being delivered, and improved culture. Trust and connection take time to build among colleagues, and there are many benefits of employee retention for your team.

In the wake of the 'Great Resignation', what can leaders learn about how to retain their new hires? Understanding the benefits of employee retention and putting a strong retention strategy in place is as important as ever.

‍

First, what is employee retention?

Employee retention refers to the length of time someone stays with a company. It can also refer to the efforts employers make to keep their staff around more long-term. These efforts are usually ongoing and can adapt to the changing needs and expectations of the workforce. They're a preventative measure to avoid good employees leaving.

While a certain level of turnover is to be expected, too much turnover can be costly, and hurt employee morale. At a team level, managers can employ different retention strategies and tools to reduce employee turnover and keep their top talent from leaving their team.

💡 Learn more about the connection between employee retention and turnover, and employee retention statistics.

The importance of employee retention

Before we jump into the benefits of employee retention, let’s quickly touch first on the importance of employee retention.

Why is employee retention important? When employees leave your organization, it disrupts teams and causes overall productivity to take a nosedive. In fact, according to the 2012 Allied Workforce Mobility Survey, it takes on average eight months for a new employee to reach full productivity.

Employee turnover is also extremely expensive. In the 2020 Retention Report, the Work Institute estimates that replacing an employee costs an organization 30% of the employee’s annual salary—and that’s a conservative estimate.

See more employee retention statistics and facts right here.

Clearly, keeping your top performers around is a must. That is why we recommend you bring your attention to the importance of employee retention as you lead your team through big changes.

So, as a manager, what are the best ways to support your team through your company’s internal growing pains—and improve employee retention in the process?

Focus on your people!

In our recent article about improving employee retention, we outline the following steps to improve retention and lower turnover:

1. Make work-life balance a non-negotiable
2. Identify and invest in your team members 
3. Set crystal clear expectations
4. Don’t forget to celebrate wins
5. Focus on helping your employees grow
6. Ask your employees what they’d like to see change
7. Follow through on their feedback

10 Benefits of employee retention

Companies and managers who are able to retain their talent will experience a handful of benefits, like...

1. Stronger employee loyalty

Long-term employees may feel more confident and calm when your team or organization goes through a change or time of uncertainty. They can also act as company ambassadors and change agents on your team. Loyal employees can help onboard new hires and keep their teammates calm and grounded through change.

People who stick around are demonstrating their loyalty. And, employees can become more loyal to your organization the longer they stay. The employee-employer relationship can develop over time, with each party becoming more committed to the other.

If you want loyal employees, give people room to grow from day one. Offering career development opportunities and creating a plan for growth is key to improving employee retention. Showing that you're committed to people's career growth will make them more committed to you.

2. Fewer transitions

Better retention means fewer role changes and personnel shifts on teams. It takes time and effort for teams to form, storm, norm, and finally perform. When you don’t interrupt this process, teams can move through their team development more quickly, and get to a place where they're able to collaborate and perform at their best.

3. A more developed workforce

The longer an employee stays with your team, the deeper their skills and expertise become. Not only that, they'll build a deep knowledge of the company mission, business practices, and client base. Experienced employees spend less time learning about the organization, and more time getting meaningful work done.

Make learning a part of the day-to-day. Encourage employees to keep developing their skills and carve out time in their workday to focus only on development. Host lunch and learns and cross-team meetings regularly to keep people aligned and learning from one another.

4. A properly resourced team

When a specialized employee leaves the team, it may take time to find a replacement. As a result, employees who may not have the same expertise are often called upon to fill in the gap.

While there are some positive aspects of taking on 'stretch assignments', having to take on another person’s role on top of their own can be stressful and draining. Not to mention, it takes time away from them doing what they do best and focusing on their development.

For example:

Your top digital marketer leaves your team. Suddenly, your graphic designer, social media strategist, and content creator are all redirecting their time toward the tasks your digital marketer used to accomplish. While they may be happy to jump in, eventually this will lead to an overall decrease in productivity and job satisfaction as people aren't applying their core skills and strengths.

It's important to make sure that teams are properly resourced with the right specializations. Keeping your specialized employees in the company ensures you don’t feel pressed to fill any employment gaps.

5. Improved customer relations

When you have an employee who has worked on your team for an extended amount of time, they tend to have deep expertise in the products you sell. This means that when customers have questions or need support, tenured employees can serve them quickly and efficiently. Building strong customer relationships is an important part of keeping your clients happy, and your business performing.

But this is also important for all the parts of your business model, not just customer-facing departments like sales and success. Your product development team, marketing team, financial team, and even your operations team will benefit from a strong knowledge of your clientele.

6. A healthy company culture

Every great leader wants to have a strong company culture and recognizes the benefits for both their staff and their customer base. A good retention rate is a great measure of strong company culture. Keeping employees around long-term is a sign that your culture is healthy, inclusive, and adaptive. It shows that people have a positive employee experience at your organization.

Not only that, but a good retention rate also nurtures your company's culture. As people grow individually within your company, this will bring depth to the way your culture expands and adapts. And when new employees join and see that there are many long-term employees around, it's a good signal to them and will put them at ease.

Remember, a healthy company culture is one that evolves over time. As you onboard new team members, they'll bring a breath of fresh air to your established norms. One of the healthiest values you can create on your team or at your organization is open-mindedness and a desire to learn and grow.

7. Increased connection on your team

The longer team members stay with a company, the more opportunities they have to connect on a personal level and strengthen their collaboration. As teammates develop trusting relationships and open communication, they get into a groove and start to do great work together. Employee retention helps foster camaraderie among staff and a sense of psychological safety.

8. Better institutional knowledge transfer

Remote and distributed teams are here to stay, and companies are facing major changes in how they share and store their institutional knowledge. They will have to rely less on informal information exchanges, and more on formal documentation and creation of knowledge bases.

Managers and HR professionals alike will be heavily relying on those long-tenured employees to help them tackle this problem. Maintaining a high retention rate will help slow knowledge loss down on your team.

If your turnover is high, and you’ve not had the chance to properly document your team’s institutional knowledge, you’ll be playing catch-up for a while. These troubles will become expedited especially as new folks join and are looking for written guidance.

9. Consistency in process and systems

Creating strong systems and work processes for your team can be challenging in the best of circumstances. And when people are coming and going often, it's even tougher to maintain a rhythm with your team and keep people working well together.

Once you’ve established your workflows, having the people who contributed to them around to keep up maintenance and introduce new team members to your work methods is really helpful. This will boost team productivity and organization.

10. Increased ramp-up time

Long-term employees can help upskill their colleagues and train new team members as they join. This helps everyone ramp up quickly and increases their ability to deliver faster results. Training and getting new people up-to-speed can mean additional costs for employers. When your current staff is equipped to help out, it means more efficiency all around.

Why employee retention matters

We’ve covered some of the most important benefits that employee retention will have for you, your team, and your company. Besides the above benefits, here’s why keeping a pulse on your employee retention rates matters:

1. Turnover costs: Gallup reports that replacing employees costs 1/2 – 2x their annual salary. Filling a role that pays $50k a year can cost between $25k and $100k!
2. Domino effect: When one employee leaves, others start to question whether they should, too. Turnover can quickly snowball and have a big impact on the people who stay.
3. Employee satisfaction: It’s no secret. When your employees are happy and feel values, they do better work! A focus on retention means working to meet employee needs and expectations, leading to better satisfaction and engagement.

How health benefits affect employee retention

3 in 4 employees want employers to provide mental health programs, benefits, and solutions.

Headspace for Work 2021 Mental Health Trends Report

Having a robust and flexible perks and benefits package (both health benefits and personal perks) will go a long way in making your employees happy, and help you reduce employee turnover.

Make these employee retention benefits a reality for your team

While you can never prevent someone from leaving your team, you can try out some employee retention strategies (like running a stay interview, for example) to find out what your team needs. Do your best as a manager to make sure each employee feels seen, heard, and taken care of, and you’ll reap the rewards and benefits of employee retention.

Onboarding a new manager is similar to onboarding any new employee: there is planning and preparation involved, a lot of knowledge transfer regarding the organization and their role, colleague introductions, regular touch bases, and progress reviews. A standard, comprehensive onboarding checklist can apply just as much to onboarding a new manager.

That said, there are some key differences to consider when building an onboarding plan for new managers, which can impact the effectiveness of your onboarding efforts. This article lists onboarding items specifically designed for new managers.

{emphasize}

Something extra for your new manager

Maybe you've promoted an existing employee to a manager position, or you're hiring a new manager externally. New managers: The complete guide is a must-have addition to the onboarding process.

{emphasize}

‍

☑ Plan activities and meetings ahead

Planning is a non-negotiable for any strong onboarding plan. Onboarding a new manager doesn't necessarily make the planning process more robust, but you may have to prepare for particular considerations unique to a managerial role. Whether you're onboarding a new hire or cross-boarding someone internally, new managers should be well-versed in the team they will manage, the management team they'll belong to, and the person they'll be reporting to. And so you might want to:

• Plan specific activities and meetings according to groups or departments
• Prepare different resources either for knowledge sharing or regarding contract agreements
• Brief new managers one-on-one about particular topics before their start date

It's too easy to skip or miss a crucial step—like sending non-disclosure agreements—if you're ill-prepared or short on time. That's where onboarding tools like Workleap Onboarding can help. Ready-made templates help you cover the basics and schedule everything on a timeline in a clean, easy-to-navigate platform.

☑ Brief new managers on their team

The role of a manager involves many responsibilities, one of them being to lead a team of employees. There are a lot of people management skills necessary for managers to hone, from having good communication to empathy to the ability to adapt.

The goal for new managers is to quickly familiarize themselves with their team and its members to put those management skills to good use. It's important to properly brief new managers on expectations, including existing team dynamics and issues. Such a brief can involve:

• Description of each team member, their roles and responsibilities
• Performance highlights of team and members
• Colleague dynamics, such as who works best with whom
• Challenges and objectives, historically or current
• Strengths and weaknesses to consider

☑ Involve the right people

When planning an onboarding, involving other people can fall in either of two ways: delegate some of the onboarding tasks to a better-suited individual (such as having a software expert give a tutorial on a program) or reserving time for one-on-one meetings.

For the latter, avoid delaying opportunities for new managers to meet their colleagues, especially because they embody a liaison role for so many people. Introduction meetings planned in a new manager's onboarding should include:

• Direct supervisor(s)
• Other managers
• Their team members
• Go-to HR contact(s)

A shared platform like Workleap Onboarding allows you to automatically assign activities to other colleagues and delegate parts of the planning to others. You can also schedule meetings between new managers and colleagues ahead of time directly through the app. This way, nobody forgets to meet for a proper one-on-one in those first, crucial weeks.

☑ Give a comprehensive company overview

Being in a leadership position in the eyes of their team, managers are essentially representatives of the organization. Their knowledge, professionalism, and managerial actions reflect onto the company. Hence, new managers need to grasp and adopt the company culture and values and emulate that in their management style. New manager orientation should cover the following topics in-depth:

• Company history
• Leadership team and structure
• Corporate vision and goals
• Company culture as a whole
• Company management culture

{emphasize}

Know the difference:

Company culture (or corporate culture) refers to an organization's collective shared values and behaviors and its employees. This is important for all new employees to know about.

Company management culture refers to how those values and behaviors get translated through management and leadership actions. This is especially important for new managers to know about.

{emphasize}

☑ Give a thorough walk-through of company policies

Because managers act as gatekeepers of company culture and policies, new managers should get familiarized with all procedures and guidelines. Thoroughness is key: provide them with comprehensive resources and reading materials, and ensure your new manager has a go-to HR contact in case of questions or concerns. Policies differ from company to company, but they could include:

• Leave policy
• Security policy
• Remote work policy
• Confidentiality policy
• Internal mobility policy
• Recruitment policy
• HR policies (such as reporting misconduct)
• Rewards and recognition (like bonus schemes)

☑ Set clear expectations and milestones

All new employees need to understand the expectations attributed to their role to know how to do their job well. Expectations need to be clear and set on a timeline (i.e., monthly or quarterly milestones). For your new managers, this can pertain to:

• Budget and timelines for deliverables
• Team performance (collective or individual)
• Management performance (team engagement, turnover, feedback)

☑ Schedule routine training

New or senior, all managers should participate in regular management training—even if just for maintenance. In certain industries, this could be mandatory. It's essential to cultivate leadership abilities and ensure your new manager's training is up to date. Train managers on things like:

• Leadership or employee motivation training
• Communication training (like Nonviolent Communication NVC)
• Conflict management or crisis management
• Time management or budget management
• Team management
• Inclusion, equity, and bias courses

☑ Schedule regular touch bases

Regularly checking in with all new employees is a key element throughout the onboarding process (which usually lasts the entire first year of employment). Be it informal check-ins or more formal 30/60/90 day check-ins, new managers should regularly connect with:

• Their supervisor to measure the progress of their onboarding, and
• An HR supervisor to clarify any questions and ensure that they're on track with adopting policies and in-the-know with any changes.

{emphasize}

📝 Plan for an effective 30-day check-in with your new manager with The 10 best questions to ask new hires after their first 30 days.

{emphasize}

Key takeaways for onboarding new managers

In a lot of ways, new managers are just like new employees. They are people, and they will onboard faster, be more loyal to their new company, and be more engaged if they have great onboarding. if they feel their onboarding plan has been personalized for them. Effective onboarding pays off: companies who invest in onboarding benefit from higher retention and productivity. There's your proof to get it right every time, and for everyone!

That said, a new manager's responsibilities are different. And, as new managers are, in effect, a representative of the organization for other employees, the importance of how well they absorb, retain, and apply knowledge through their onboarding holds much more weight.

{emphasize}

Softstart: Your new onboarding secret weapon

A tool like Workleap Onboarding will help you plan, involve others and measure the progress of your new manager's onboarding experience faster, better, and simpler. Try it for free today and discover a library of templates ready for you to customize and use.

{emphasize}

Being a successful manager means developing strong relationships with your employees, and one-on-one meetings are a big part of that. Beyond building those connections, there are several benefits of effective one-on-one meetings, from increasing employee engagement to boosting team productivity and alignment. Showing up prepared for these important conversations and using the proper meeting tools helps you make the most out of them.

We don’t want to add to your already heavy work pile, so we built the ultimate one-on-one meeting checklist to help you out. Use it to prepare for your one-on-ones on the go, and turn every meeting into a productive conversation.

Of course, these conversations are always a bit different. So feel free to use it as a reference, and take what’s most relevant to you and skip what isn’t.

‍

Before your one-on-one meeting checklist

Make a list of discussion points

Every one-on-one is different, and depending on the situation, the conversation topics will vary. Making a list of talking points before creating your agenda helps you establish your priorities. Whether it's exchanging feedback, setting some development goals, or discussing a specific issue, listing everything out helps you organize your conversation.

Ask for your employee's input

Once you have your talking points, ask your employee if they have specific topics they'd like to discuss. This shows your direct reports that you care, and that you take their opinion into account. It gives them the opportunity to bring up anything you might be missing.

Set a suggested meeting agenda

After you’ve established the key points you want to touch throughout your meeting, create an agenda of how you'll carry out the meeting. This gives you a structure you can go back to whenever you want to move the conversation forward, and helps you keep the meeting efficient. A one-on-one meeting template can help you create an overall structure to use as a base.

Plan questions ahead of time

With one-on-one meetings, you can offer your employees a safe space to share their honest feedback, and open-ended questions are a good way to get them started. Think about what you’d like to know from your employees, and plan questions ahead of time so you get relevant information to support them.

If you ever need some ideas, here’s a list of one-on-one meeting questions you can use.

During the one-on-one meeting checklist

Start with a meeting check-in

Start with a meeting check-in to set the tone for a relaxed, friendly conversation, and find out how your employee is feeling. It's good to understand how each of you is coming into the conversation and what kind of mindset you're in.

Especially if you're having a virtual one-on-one meeting, don’t be afraid to dedicate some time to ask about or share something unrelated to work. Talking about the things you like to do outside the office helps you establish a connection on a personal level, which helps build trust and strengthen the relationship.

Take meeting notes

Writing down relevant points is a good practice that helps you to keep track of all the moving parts on your team. Maybe they’ll ask about something you’re not sure about and have to find out, or there will be an action item you need to add to your to-do list.

These notes will also help you when you need to give your direct report a performance review in the future. Relying on notes is much safer and effective than relying solely on memory!

Keep track of all your one-on-one meeting notes with Officevibe's one-on-one software. Build collaborative agendas and set action items that carry over to your next conversation, so no next steps fall through the cracks.

Let the employee talk and share the lead

Remember that a one-on-one meeting is a dedicated space for you to listen and receive employee feedback. Keep your meeting agenda as a loose structure, and let your employees express themselves. It’s their time to share and your time to learn about them, coach them when needed, and provide support.

Recognize wins and recent work

Make sure to include wins in your talking points, and ask your team member if they have exciting work-related news to share. We all like to be appreciated, and there are real benefits to recognizing good work. Plus, it boosts employee morale, motivation, and engagement, and sets a positive vibe for the rest of the meeting.

Discuss challenges

We all have obstacles that stand between us and our objectives, and your employees will eventually encounter obstacles as well. It’s part of your role to support them while they work towards their goals. To be able to find possible solutions, you need to first know the problems. Discuss common pitfalls or current challenges, and work through possible ways to solve them together.

Ask about the employee's objectives

Ask about your employee’s professional goals, and try to think which team objectives or tasks would they be happy to take on as a way of growing into their professional aspirations. Knowing your employee’s goals will help you plan strategically to have the right people doing the right things to achieve optimal results.

Don't forget: Knowing your team member's professional aspirations helps you set meaningful one-on-one meeting goals with them. Think about what you want to achieve from your time together and centre your discussions around those goals.

Hold employees accountable

Follow up on projects, get status updates, and make sure the deadlines are being met. If there are delays, discuss why, and work together on a plan to prioritize and get things done. Establishing clear deadlines and having to commit to them can actually empower people to work more efficiently, and can help you to see measurable results. Just make sure you don't spend the whole meeting on this, since you probably cover these things in team meetings, too.

Give honest constructive feedback

Don’t be shy to give employee feedback in your one-on-ones whenever you feel it’s necessary. What are the things that your reports do best, and what are the things they could work harder at? Make sure to be clear, and be kind with negative feedback. They can’t possibly correct something if they don’t understand how could they improve, and they won't be motivated to apply feedback if it's not given with compassion.

Set individualized action items together

Create action items that help you tackle issues and find solutions. These "to do's" will not only set things into motion, but will also allow you to follow up, and again, hold your team members accountable. Both you and your direct report can be responsible for the action items you set together.

The next one-on-one meeting checklist

Follow up on talking points and action items

Remember, one-on-one meetings shouldn’t be an isolated event. They become truly effective when done consistently and routinely. Talk about the things that may have been left out last time, answer any pending questions, and follow up on action items. Following up not only helps you to move forward, but it also shows that you listened and you care.

Review your meeting priorities

Because each one of these meetings will be unique, you’ll need to establish the priorities you want to tackle at the next meeting. Maybe you’ll need to get back to your employee regarding resources inquiries, or a new upcoming project. Go over the priorities to discuss this time to make sure you tackle the most pressing issues before discussing less urgent stuff.

Status update and course correction

How are projects going? Avoid future problems by taking time to check on projects and tasks’ status. Offer some guidance when needed, and make sure that everything is still on schedule. If that's not the case, evaluate and plan accordingly to accomplish or modify individual or team goals.

Focus on the big picture

Part of your role is to find the alignment between your direct report's goals and the organizational goals. Discuss with your employees what they see (or wish to see) in their future. Evaluate organizational mandates and see where they align with your employee’s short and long-term goals.

Goal-setting and tracking progress

Ask your employee about their short- and long-term goals. If they’re not completely sure, that’s okay. You can brainstorm together what the future could look like, or at least put the question out there so there’s an active reflection about it. Exploring and discussing career goals and growth opportunities will help you coach and support people to flourish in their roles and grow professionally.

Find our top employee goal setting tips to help you set every team member up for success.

Make every one-on-one meeting a success

As you might have realized, many of these checklist items are interconnected. They follow from one to the next to make the conversation evolve, so you strengthen your work relationships and improve team productivity.

Use this as a tool that you can adapt depending on the type of conversation you might want to have, and make sure you cover what’s most important. This will help you run better one-on-one meetings, keep up with all your employee's needs, and support an engaged, high-performing team.

A one-on-one meeting is a type of meeting that happens between two people who work together. Generally, these important conversations happen between managers and each of their direct reports. The opportunity to connect in a one-on-one environment, versus a larger team meeting, is important and beneficial both for the employees and managers.

From discussing ongoing work to coaching performance and even working through interpersonal conflict, having moments for candid conversations at work has a whole host of benefits. But if you’ve never had a one-on-one, the concept might feel like a bit of a question mark. What should you talk about? How often should you have one-on-ones? What do you get out of these talks?

Ultimately, understanding the purpose of one-on-one meetings—and the specific purpose they hold for you—helps make this dedicated time productive and impactful.

‍

What is a one-on-one meeting?

A one-on-one meeting is ultimately any meeting between two people in an organization. These meetings happen between peers, across departments, and within upper leadership. But most commonly, one-on-ones take place between an employee and their manager.

What is the purpose of one-on-one meetings?

There are a number of reasons for managers and employees to meet regularly. The purpose of your one-on-one meetings might change from week to week, month to month, or quarter to quarter. Here are some common one-on-one purposes:

Building and maintaining the manager-employee relationship

For managers and employees to work well together, there needs to be a baseline of trust, familiarity, and understanding. In other words, there needs to be a relationship. One-on-one meetings give both managers and employees the perfect opportunity to build, foster, and maintain that relationship. This can make for stronger communication and a more effective working environment.

Creating space for specific conversations

There are some conversations that aren’t appropriate to have during a team meeting or in front of other colleagues. A one-on-one conversation can offer a safe environment for employees to raise challenging, private, or personal matters. It’s also a place for managers to address employee concerns. These might be concerns that they don't feel comfortable sharing in front of the rest of the team.

Employee goal setting

One of a manager's most important tasks is fostering their employees’ career growth. To do that effectively, they need to understand each person's career goals and how they align with the team's objectives. One-on-one meetings create a dedicated time and space to set employee goals. And, a chance to follow their progress as they achieve their milestones.

Developing action plans

Helping each team member grow professionally and succeed in their role is a key part of management. Sometimes, employees will need a bit more coaching and a clear performance action plan to help them get there. This should be seen as an opportunity for support and development. One of the best ways to do this is have employees work together with their managers to develop a performance plan.

Giving and receiving honest feedback

Getting constructive feedback can help employees reach their full potential. Having someone at work who helps them continually improve and develop is crucial. On the other side, receiving feedback from employees helps managers to develop in their roles and better support their team. One-on-one meetings are a great moment for giving and receiving constructive feedback between managers and employees.

Factors to consider when defining your meeting purpose:

• Who is attending
• Team objectives and work
• The goal of the meeting
• What’s being discussed
• The current business context

Long term vs. short term goals for one-on-one meetings

Whatever the purpose of your one-on-ones, it’s important that both employees and managers walk away feeling like they accomplished what they set out to do. Setting one-on-one meeting goals helps you make sure you continue to fulfil your purpose together.

Short-term meeting goals are about what you want to accomplish before any single one-on-one meeting is over.

For example: If you're meeting to discuss an employee’s career trajectory, the manager's short-term goal might be to better understand where they see themselves growing in the company. On the other hand, the employee's short-term goal might be to ask about a new position opening up on the team.

Long-term meeting goals are about what you want to accomplish by meeting regularly in a one-on-one environment.

For example: A manager's long-term one-on-one goals might be to foster stronger relationships with their employees. An employee’s long-term goal might be to develop their skill set and gain their manager's trust, to become more autonomous in their role.

Getting the most out of one-on-one meetings

Here are some one-on-one meeting tips to make sure you're getting the most out of your time, and achieving your meeting purpose.

• Schedule regular one-on-one meetings. Recurring meetings are key for continuity. This could be a regular check-in at the end of each week, a monthly meetings to share status updates on the employee’s career progression plan, or a quarterly performance review meeting. Or, you could have all 3 types of meetings.
• Prepare one-on-one meeting questions. Questions are a great way to drive the conversation, whether it's the manager or employee asking them. Before your meeting, take the time to prepare a couple of relevant, open-ended questions related to your talking points.
• Take meeting notes and keep track of them. If you forget what you discussed during your meeting, you won’t be able to take action on your discussion. Take notes of the key takeaways from your meeting, and use them to follow up in your next conversation.
• Define action items and set next steps. At the end of your meeting, review your notes together and define at least one or two clear action items. These could be related to deliverables, deadlines, or follow-ups either of you are responsible for.
• Schedule a follow-up meeting. Before you wrap up your one-on-one, coordinate when you’re going to meet again to follow up on your action items. Set the date in your calendar and add some talking points for next time.
• When in doubt, use an agenda template. If you’re not sure how to navigate your meeting, using a one-on-one meeting template can help. This way, you make sure you cover all the points you want to, and save some preparation time.

Benefits of one on one meetings

The benefits of one-on-one meetings stretch across the entire organization. Everyone, from individual contributors to managers and leadership, has something to gain from effective one-on-one meetings.

Benefits for employees

Employees benefit from one-on-one meetings because it gives them a space where they have their supervisor’s undivided attention. This gives them a platform to discuss or explore anything that might help their career.

For example: Getting feedback on their performance or creating an action plan to land a promotion.

Benefits for managers

Managers benefit from one-on-ones because they keep them connected with their team members. And understanding how people feel and their challenges helps managers create tangible plans to give support both at an individual level and to their team as a whole.

For example: Spotting issues with employee engagement or budding team conflict, and being able to take action early.

Benefits for the business

For companies as a whole, one-on-one meetings create overarching alignment, nurture employee engagement, and develop team performance. This leads to increased productivity and efficiency in the workplace—all of which directly benefit the organization.

For example: Team members better understanding how they fit into their shared team objectives, and how that contributes to the business mission.

Bring a sense of purpose to every one-on-one meeting

Really understanding the benefits and impact of regular one-on-ones helps everyone make better use of this time. Ultimately, running more effective and productive one-on-one meetings lead to a more aligned, more connected workforce.

This article is a guest post from Softstart, the all-in-one onboarding platform to start your new hires off on the right foot.

Companies who show genuine care with their employees by supporting new hires from the get-go, reap the benefits of higher levels of engagement—and up to 82% employee retention in the long run. The importance of good onboarding for employee engagement is evident, and there are plenty of sound reasons why engaging employees at an early stage is a worthwhile investment.

There are many ways to engage new hires. Applying engagement tactics from the start sets up a good foundation that will last the entirety of someone’s employment journey. We’ve listed out ten ways you can prioritize employee engagement for new hires, helping you maintain engagement more easily even after the onboarding phase of the employment cycle.

‍

1. Prepare ahead of the first day

Naturally, you’ll want to welcome a new employee in the most organized context possible. Structure shows professionalism.

There are ways to make sure your new hire’s first day is as least chaotic as possible. For starters, getting administrative tasks out of the way before ensures your new hire can dedicate themselves entirely to their onboarding once they start. This could include:

• Sending the paperwork for new hires to read and sign by email one week before.
• Ensuring they have their new work computer and any equipment they need, along with access to tools and software.
• Providing additional onboarding documents, like an employee handbook, to support learning.

💡 We call this pre-boarding, and 35% of best-in-class companies are likely to apply this in their onboarding.

2. Make a great first day impression

First impressions last. By ensuring your new employee’s first day starts strong, you're helping set a positive tone and expectations from day one. We’re not talking about being prepared by just having a working laptop ready at their desk upon their arrival.

There’s a difference between doing the bare minimum and going the extra mile.

Why not buy them lunch on their first day? Or welcome them via a tagged company post on LinkedIn, or gift them a welcome package with office swag? Small extra efforts like these are sure to wow. Have no idea where to start? Here's some inspiration.

Softstart proposes first day activities like team building and prepping welcome packages to add pizzazz to all your onboardings.

3. Leverage employee benefits

While a job isn’t just about the money, the salary and employee benefits that come along with a new job play a crucial role in your new employee’s engagement.

81% of employees who can easily access their benefits report feeling loyal to their employer, and 79% report feeling proud to work for them.

Access Perks

We all can miss reading the fine print, so make sure your new hires understand the full extent of their compensation, including employee benefits and perks. Dedicate time during the orientation session to discuss, or the subject may deserve a whole session of its own. Your new hires might not know that they can get 30% off on their annual public transport pass thanks to working for you, for example, and that’s a huge plus!

4. Highlight company culture

The same way you would for compensation, highlighting the added value of an awesome company culture impacts how you’ll engage your new hires. The lure of strong company culture is becoming even more major for remote or hybrid work environments.

Share details on:

• What the company culture stands for (like a team-first culture).
• Shared employee values (like collaboration).
• How it’s all put into practice, regardless of the workplace setting (like an open-door policy at the office, or dedicated communication channels, or tools to express concerns virtually).

Communicate company culture throughout orientation to inspire a sense of community within the new hire.

People who are motivated by their company's values also tend to enjoy their work more, according to Officevibe's Pulse Survey data.

5. Take the time for introductions

New hires often feel like strangers at the very beginning. Make sure you’re helping them connect and introduce them to their colleagues. There is true power in developing friendships at work.

60% of employees say they would feel more engaged if they developed more friendships at work.

Bio Space

Some new hires might feel confident enough to break the ice themselves, but some might be shy and need some help.

Pro Tip: Using Softstart allows you to custom design and schedule social activities at every phase of the onboarding process, including team lunches, one-on-one meetings, and other colleague bonding activities.

6. Assign a buddy and/or mentor

The first day at a new job can feel daunting. The buddy system ensures that a new employee has a first work friend—someone to show them around the office, help with orientation, introduce them to other colleagues, and better integrate the company culture, team, and corporate social dynamics.

Mentors, on the other hand, are there for professional support. A mentorship relationship is more formal and structured, over a long time, focusing on professional growth within the company.

Studies show that buddy systems at work can increase employee happiness, motivation, productivity, and retention! Plus, employees with mentors are twice as likely to stay at the same company.

7. Support their career

Every person wants to feel like their potential is worth investing in. An employee feels more committed to a company they believe supports their professional aspirations, and a new hire will feel engaged at work with an employer that offers attractive long-term opportunities.

People who feel like they have the opportunity to improve their skills at work report being generally happier and more fulfilled by their work.

Officevibe's employee survey data

There are ways for companies to show they invest in their employee’s professional development:

• Paying for training courses or certifications.
• Providing learning opportunities like seminars.
• Investing in new tools for new skills development.
• Offering clear job promotion schemes.

8. Touch base often

We're all familiar with performance review sessions with new employees, such as assessments after the standard 3-month probation. However, increasing touchpoints with employees throughout the entire employment cycle is beneficial, especially during the onboarding process.

Regular check-ins make new hires feel well supported and communicate that their employee experience is a priority, even when things get busy. Planning a 30-day review, 60-day review, 90-day review, and weekly or bi-weekly check-ins is necessary. This is especially important for remote employees who might not benefit from the organic touchpoints that occur in a physical office setting.

Employees who are satisfied with how frequently they communicate with their managers also report feeling more autonomous at work.

Officevibe's employee survey data

9. Make feedback a priority

Feedback is a two-way street. It’s as important for a manager to give feedback to a new hire as it is to invite a new hire to provide feedback about their employee experience. Exchanging feedback sets the tone for true collaboration and helps create more engaged employees in the long-term.

Feedback can take the form of positive remarks or constructive criticism—all of which are valid and important to consider. Employee feedback helps gauge how things are going and reveals opportunities to align and improve ongoing onboarding experiences as well as new ones.

10. Map out a clear plan

Coming back full circle to our first point about preparedness: having a clear plan makes for an organized and efficient experience, both for the manager and new hire. The more new hires feel confident in understanding their job responsibilities and where they’re going—with clear timelines, milestones, tasks, and objectives—the more empowered and engaged they will feel as they onboard.

Engagement opportunities within the onboarding process are infinite. How to even begin? Softstart is designed to suggest activities built to engage your new hires, from social moments to feedback sessions, which you can later customize.

Employee engagement matters. Studies even show that customer retention is also higher (by 18%) when employees are more engaged. How's that for ROI? Engaging new hires from day one directly influences employee productivity and employee retention in the long run. And that's something we can all get on board with.

Most experienced managers understand just how important fostering trust, connection, and collaboration is if they want to run a high-performing team. For many remote teams, meetings are a chance for employees to nurture those important human connections. Unfortunately, our increasingly busy schedules make it tempting to dive right into business, skipping over the casual conversation we might have once had when face-to-face.

Cue in the meeting check-in! A meeting check-in is an intentional practice of “checking in” before a meeting begins, rather than just jumping into your agenda points. Meeting check-ins have become such a prominent part of our new virtual world, and we want to help you make them meaningful and efficient, to help balance your team's human and professional priorities.

What is a meeting check-in?

A meeting check-in is a chance to casually touch base at the start of a meeting, and get a sense of how everyone is joining the call. There are several different ways you can check-in, including:

• Mindful minutes (pausing for a few deep breaths before beginning)
• Asking funny questions to build rapport between colleagues
• Providing status updates on how people are feeling

Checking in before a team meeting or 1-on-1 meeting invites people into the conversation, and gives them the opportunity to switch their focus onto the present moment. This is important, as many of us run from meeting to meeting all day without taking time to pause.

Check-ins can be done by anyone on the team. If you’re managing the team, you can lead them, or, delegate a new person each week to lead the check-ins.

Why you should have check-ins

Starting a meeting off with a quick check-in helps set the tone and gives everyone a chance to connect. In a remote environment, meeting check-ins can be an effective way to balance our need to socialize.

While you might be tempted to dive right into business, taking the time to check in and see how people are doing signals safety to your employees. It opens the floor to share and gives everyone in the room permission to speak up right from the start. And teams who experience a higher degree of psychological safety reap the benefits of productivity, innovation, and trust.

By skipping over the check-in, you may inadvertently indicate to your team that there is no time or space for personal connection at work. Leaving time to connect at the human level creates the opportunity to reinforce and nurture that psychological safety your team might be missing, as they don’t currently have the opportunity to engage in coffee or water cooler chat.

6 Effective meeting check-in tips

Check-ins, when planned well, can bring value to a team’s dynamics and build connections, rather than feel like time wasted. These tips will help you have better meeting check-ins with your team.

1. Make it personal

You’ll want to find the sweet spot when it comes to personalizing your check-ins. Questions like “How are you doing” can get tiring and feel inauthentic. When surface-level check-ins are happening multiple times a day, it can start to feel like it’s taking away from precious collaboration and work time, hindering productivity.

{emphasize}

Aim for thoughtful, open-ended questions and mindfulness prompts:

• What’s one thing you’re grateful for today and why?
• Name one remarkable thing that you did today.
• What’s something nice you’re doing for yourself this week?
• Share one thing that helps you feel grounded during the day.

{emphasize}

2. Have some fun

Check-ins with clear, engaging questions can be both fun and effective. If you want to take your personalized questions a step further, get into more ice-breaker-style questions that give your employees space to have fun and think about non-work-related topics.

{emphasize}

Try some outside-of-the-box questions or check-in prompts:

• Name 3 itemsyou always keep close to your desk and share why.
• Would you rather be able to read minds or see the future?

{emphasize}

3. Keep it time-bound

A great question can spark great conversation. While you don’t want to interrupt a fun discussion, it’s also necessary to keep your meetings on track. As a rule of thumb, you can try to keep your check-ins to 5 minutes. Based on how many people you have on your team, you can let employees know ahead of time how long they will each have to answer.

{emphasize}

One-liners to stick to a timeframe:

• “Let’s go around and answer the following question. Everyone will get 30 seconds each to share.”
• “Thanks so much for sharing! In the spirit of getting through our agenda, let’s move on to the next person.”

{emphasize}

4. Decide your cadence

If you meet with your team 3 times a day, starting off each meeting with a fun question might seem like overkill. Set a cadence of when you want to have meeting check-ins that makes sense for your team's context. Be sure to share this with your team so everyone is on the same page.

{emphasize}

Good moments to have a meeting check-in:

• The first team meeting of the week
• Retrospective meetings
• 1-on-1 meetings
• Meetings with teams or employees you don’t work with often

{emphasize}

5. Try it async

If your team is scattered in different time zones and live meetings are scarce, you can make your check-ins asynchronous. Get in the habit of posting a 'Question of the day' on Slack, and ask everyone on your team to answer the question as they log in and start their days. This provides an opportunity for people to connect personally, wherever they are.

{emphasize}

Asynchronous check-ins for distributed teams:

• When and where do you do your best work?
• Where do you most want to travel?
• What does utopia look like for you?

{emphasize}

6. Focus on psychological safety

Remember to make this a safe space for your employees, and make every meeting check-in completely optional. Whether people don't have an answer, don't want to be put on the spot, or simply don't feel like participating that day, they should be able to simply say 'pass' without further explanation. Remind your team that these questions are in no way mandatory to answer should they prefer not to participate.

{emphasize}

A safe space for meeting check-ins looks like:

• Not passing judgment or criticism on anyone's answer.
• Never forcing someone to answer.
• Not making it too personal or crossing personal boundaries.

{emphasize}

Meeting check-in questions and prompts

We compiled some of our favourite meeting check-in questions and prompts, that you can easily save for future use. Drag to your desktop or right-click and save, and/or send them to your email.

Make every meeting check-in meaningful

Checking in with your employees is a crucial part of building trust, connection, and creating a comfortable rapport on the team. While it may be tempting to skip over this step and jump right into business, building check-ins as a regular practice will help contribute to a team culture of psychological safety, human connection, and fun! What check-ins will you be trying out in your next meeting?

Get more meeting check-in ideas from our 1-on-1 meeting templates.