“The best gift to give to a person is the quality of his listening” once said Robert Dilts, a famous coach.
Active listening and regular exchanges between managers and employees make it possible to communicate more effectively and improve business performance. Almost a truism, you might say.
But in a context where teleworking has become an established norm, how can you maintain and encourage communication with your employees to find out their needs and difficulties, set a course and offer prospects? How to continue to exchange and evaluate to move the company forward ? How to ensure follow-up without losing efficiency ?
The check-in makes it possible to organize exchanges between managers and employees, whether remotely or at the office. In a context of remoteness at work, let's see how its practice can make an organization more agile, resilient and efficient.
Companies initially rather hesitant about teleworking, but forced by the health crisis to accept hybrid work, must deal with a trend that is now firmly rooted in the habits of employees.
Conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and ANDRH, the 2nd edition of a survey on the vision of work by 2025 confirms this trend. The study gathered responses from 588 people, 85% of whom were HRDs.
Some companies have even gone 100% remote with employees working permanently remotely. While not all companies have moved to “everything remotely” for cultural or operational reasons, the trend towards hybrid work seems to be established. And sustainably.
Although experimentation with teleworking in companies is still recent, several trends emerge.
First on the employee side.
According to the results of the recent CGT survey, 98% of employees questioned want to continue working from home. The 2022 Telework and Hybrid Organizations Barometer goes in the same direction with 82% of eligible employees in favor.
Telework, if it is well supervised, therefore has its share of advantages that are priceless:
On the business side, it is an opportunity to provide better working conditions for all. A strong argument for attracting talent, especially millennials and Z. Some also note an increase in productivity and a decrease in absenteeism.
However, the reduction in the time of physical presence, in addition to affecting the morale of certain employees, also leads to the scarcity of exchanges. There are and will be fewer face-to-face exchanges. This new reality could ultimately:
Moreover, not everyone has the same working conditions. An employee teleworking in a small area with children to manage is more subject to concentration difficulties and stress. Numerous investigations have demonstrated this at the end of the 1st confinement.
For these more exposed teleworkers in large cities, the real risk of disengagement is multiplied.
In this context, supporting managers to adopt a new posture and to use the check-in appears to be a necessity to help them better help and support the members of their teams by ensuring that they are well.
In large organizations, communication between the different layers is already a difficult exercise for those working in the same building.
And when individuals are far from each other, it can quickly become a headache.
In a remote relationship, the check-in allows above all to strengthen ties and promote dialogue between the manager and the members of his team. The tool makes it possible to deal with all sorts of subjects of corporate life whether they concern the profession, the activity or the purely relational aspect.
Because the subjects of exchanges in companies are almost infinite and vital. They make it possible to better understand individuals, their aspirations, their motivations and their affects to help them develop.
They manifest the existence and recognition of individuals in the organization. They make it possible to maintain motivation, the engine of commitment.
Their value is inestimable. It serves the interest of the group:
- requesting training
- addressing your pro/personal balance
- dealing with a client case
- asking for leave or making a progress report in relation to your objectives, etc.
- the organization (teleworking, adaptation of working hours or request for exceptional presence)
- the management of a conflict
- the promotion of results or initiatives
- organization of an event linked to the CSR policy
- application of new safety regulations
The practice of check-in benefits all of the company's players: operational staff and managers. With virtues both for the human and the performance of the organization.
Developing collaboration is a major HR challenge, especially for young generations who are connected and for whom social networks are part of their daily lives. It makes it possible to make exchanges more fluid and to encourage collaboration and therefore learning.
Checking in makes it possible to make regular points. It therefore participates in creating a collaborative dynamic because:
If check-in is not mandatory, it has the merit of existing. Everyone can use it in a spirit of common and shared responsibility.
The check-in is then a facilitator of communication and development in more ways than one.
Employee performance is linked to both personal and professional issues. In the era of hybrid work, an employee may feel more isolated, helpless or worried about his ability to cope with his job. For a manager, it is not always easy in this context to perceive the weak signals of demotivation and disengagement.
Thanks to the check-in, the employee can take control of their personal development and share as he pleases:
- their business difficulties concerning the management of a client, a process or a misunderstanding.
- their personal difficulties if they wish (lowered morale, negative emotions, temporary difficulties or serious problems)
The check-in becomes a tool for motivation and prevention of disengagement thanks to the privileged moments of exchange that it offers between employee and manager. The latter will be better able to:
- help and advice on business aspects by providing solutions
- reassure and motivate their troops
A real tool for managing objectives, check-in allows you to score points steady advancement. It establishes levels and rhythm to support the employee towards performance.
For example, it helps an employee to better manage the stress related to annual objectives by giving them the hand to ask their manager for a progress report on their key results.
It therefore provides an essential framework and agility for remote performance management.