Do this to prevent turnover and ensure you have productive relationships with your best employees

June 7, 2021
Category: Build an Accountable, Self-Sufficient Team,Eliminate Problems and Fires

This week, a client of mine who owns a painting company had one of his long-term key employees explode in anger over a very minor issue, then quit and storm out.

My client told me that he was totally blindsided by how angry this employee was. So he called the employee to find out why he was so upset. The employee explained how unappreciated he felt and told him he was fed up with all the hassles and problems he was having on the job.

My client said, “I had no idea! I wish that I had known about this earlier. If I knew, I could’ve taken care of many of my employee’s concerns and maybe kept him from quitting!”

In my experience as a coach, I’ve found that situations like this are relatively common. Many of my landscaping, cleaning service, and remodeling clients have had similar experiences. Have you?

It’s the stuff that you don’t know about that often bites you in the butt!
So why didn’t these owners know their employees were having problems? The short answer is that they weren’t using one of the most basic management tools for ensuring that their employees were happy and productive: Regular communication.

Try this to avoid being blindsided and to prevent many employee problems:
I recommend that you meet with your employees in person 1-on-1 for 20 to 30 minutes at least twice a year (quarterly would be better). The goal of these meetings is to make sure that they’re happy with their job, to see if they have any issues that you can help them resolve, and to let them know that you appreciate the contribution that they make (assuming that you really do).

Here are a few pointers to make these meetings most effective:

• Schedule these meetings separately from other meetings that you might have with your employees.
• It’s best to do these meetings in a relaxing place like a coffee shop (if you can). They’re more likely to share their thoughts with you if they’re not in your office with you sitting on one side of the desk and them on the other.
• When you start the meeting, encourage them to speak frankly about what they like and dislike working in your company.
• Get to know them as a person and try to learn what they would like to accomplish in your business and in their lives.
• Keep the conversation focused on them and their needs. This isn’t the place to give a performance evaluation.

If you have too many employees to talk to everyone, make sure you meet with your direct reports and other key employees.

You don’t want to do this, do you?
When I suggest these meetings to my clients, many resist. Here are the two most common comments I get and why I nudge them to have these meetings despite their resistance:

• I have an open-door policy. If my employees have concerns, they’ll let me know. What I’ve found is that even with an open-door policy, you’re not as approachable as you think. Most of your employees are reluctant to tell the boss what they think. It’s way more effective for you to reach out and schedule a time to talk.
• I don’t have time for this! Really? These conversations only take 20 to 30 minutes per employee! It’s a small amount of time per week and a small price to pay to prevent the drama and turnover and ensure that you have a strong, productive working relationship with your best employees.

I recommend that you give this a try!

P.S. Having regular communication will also help your relationships with your customers, referral partners, your spouse, kids, etc. too

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