Alignment between employees` personal goals and professional goals is key to motivation. If employees are motivated, they will dedicate their discretionary energy to the business and they will feel happy in the workplace. Leaders that know how to motivate their employees are more likely to achieve business goals, retain good employees, and implement changes when needed.
So, how can you motivate your employees?
A great tool we use at The Business Therapist® is one-on-one meetings. On-one-on meetings can help you and your employees to clarify their personal goals, understand how their current tasks contribute to the development of those goals and can be done differently to improve both personal and business performance.
“One-on-one meetings at The Business Therapist are great, because they make me understand what is expected of me, and it gives me a feeling that I am an active part of the company, that my work impacts the final outcome we want to achieve.” – João Ferri (Intern at The Business Therapist®)
Here is how you can run this type of meeting:
Preparation
- Set aside 45 min to 1-hour of uninterrupted time and schedule the meeting in advance with your front-line leaders.
- Encourage your front-line leaders to do the same with their followers until your entire organization is covered.
- Clarify the purpose of the meeting upfront, that is: “to understand their personal goals and to make changes to improve the workplace and their lives”.
- Listen, listen, listen. Listen with your open mind – curiosity, open heart – compassion, and open will encourage change.[1]
- Get a notebook and by the end of each meeting write down your thoughts, impressions, and ideas that came from the one-on-one meeting.
One-on-One Meeting
1) Outside the company
Life / Studying related questions
- How are you and your family doing?
- Are you taking any courses? How is school going? (If applicable)
Career
- What is your purpose? Imagine you are now 80 years old, if you look back on your life, what would you be proud of?
- Is your job helping you to achieve your personal goals and your purpose?
- What other initiatives can you take to achieve your career goals?
- What are you going to do next regarding your career?
2) Inside the company
Day to day
- How do you feel here at the company?
- Do you have any complaints or suggestions? E.g. lack of respect, unpleasant jokes…
Work
- Are you satisfied with your current position?
- What skills are you interested in developing? E.g. new functions, new roles…
Career
- Do you have plans to continue working here?
- What are your next steps regarding your career?
Responsibilities
- What is the job to be done for our clients? How can we do it better?
- What challenges are you and your team facing?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of each member of your team?
- Do you feel responsible and rewarded for your work?
3) Feedback session
- This is the step where you are allowed to talk. Provide positive and negative feedback and examples of how you expect them to improve until the next meeting.
4) Review the work plan until the next one-on-one meeting
We hope this tool can help you as much as it helps us in our business. Let us know your experience with it and share your comments.
