By Diana Moss
July 7, 2011
One of the easiest, cheapest and perhaps the most important way to find out what is on employee’s minds is to simply ask them. Sounds pretty basic, yet uncovering meaningful information about what employees are really thinking and feeling takes focus, skill and knowing what questions to ask.
In my last article, Strengthen Commitment: Focus on What Employees Think and Feel, I discussed the importance of building both rational and emotional commitment as an important contributor to employee engagement. Uncovering what employees think and feel can be accomplished in a variety of ways. More formal approaches include analyzing performance metrics and employee opinion survey data. Informal day-to-day methods include observing behavior and engaging in meaningful conversation.
Every conversation is a chance to uncover information about what employees think and feel if you know the right questions to ask. The book, “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High,” by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and Switzler, describes the aim of dialogue, or the goal of conversation, is to create a pool of shared meaning. Before, during, and after managers and supervisors share information, feedback, objectives, expectations and results, it is important to simultaneously collect information from employees. Uncovering the other person’s thoughts, feelings, perceptions and expectations is crucial to meaningful, productive dialogue and crucial to building a culture of employee engagement.