Whether they’re in the form of weekly catch-ups, monthly meetings, or annual appraisals, 1-1s are often treated like a box-ticking exercise that’s seen as a chore for everyone involved, but it doesn’t have to be this way…

In today’s article, we explore the impact of neglecting 1-1s and appraisals, where managers typically go wrong, and how to unlock the full benefit of 1-1s in your organisation.

Why You Need to Prioritise 1-1s and Appraisals

Our Head of Learning Solutions, Bev Holloway, and our lead Management Trainer, Kerry Clarkson, recently recorded a video discussion all about 1-1s and appraisals (click here to watch).

In this discussion, Bev and Kerry explored the impact of neglecting 1-1s and appraisals and highlighted that without frequent and meaningful catch-ups, employees are left with very little direction; they may know what their yearly objectives are, but they likely don’t know what they’re doing well, if the progress they are making is sufficient, or how they can improve.

1-1s and appraisals are also vital to building strong working relationships with employees; a BHR survey found that only 42% of people trust their boss, compared with 58% that would rather trust a stranger.

Not only are 1-1s and appraisals beneficial for teams and individuals, they also create a more engaged workforce, benefiting the organisation as a whole:

• Low employee engagement costs employers $450-500 billion each year
• Organisations with a highly engaged workforce are 21% more profitable
• High employee engagement, on average, decreases turnover by 59%

Employee engagement also has a wider impact on customers - organisations with engaged employees achieve 89% greater customer satisfaction and 50% higher customer loyalty.

Where Managers Typically Go Wrong with Appraisals

In their discussion, Bev also touched on one of her own experiences with a poor appraisal in a previous job; her manager handed her a written report which just said how well she was doing - there was no actual conversation.

Whilst this made Bev feel good as she knew what she was doing well, she didn’t get the full benefit that she could’ve had if there had been a two-way conversation around not only what she is doing well, but also how she could improve.

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A lot of managers, because they see 1-1s as a transactional, box-ticking exercise, are guilty of delaying and putting off appraisals; 96% of employees say that they want regular feedback, but up to 50% of employees have had appraisals delayed by 30 days or more, and 32% only have a catch-up once every 3 months or more.

This can be extremely demotivating for employees as they likely would’ve spent time preparing, but then they’ve been ‘brushed off’ and their performance and progression is treated as a second priority.

3 Metrics to Distinguish a Meaningful Appraisal

A fantastic article by Madeline Miles, which Bev and Kerry referenced in their discussion, identifies the 3 emotions that employees should feel after an appraisal or 1-1 if it was truly meaningful - and the stats suggest the same…

The article suggests that they should feel:

1. Energised

One of the primary purposes of 1-1s is to recognise and celebrate what employees are doing well, and research shows that this is a vital step; 69% of employees say that if their efforts were better recognised, they would be willing to work harder.

2. Engaged

As we mentioned earlier in this article, another sign of truly meaningful appraisals is that employees walk away feeling engaged and motivated; employees who receive regular communication and feedback from their managers are nearly 3x more engaged than those who don’t. 

Concerningly, 43% of engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week but 69% of organisations only do annual or bi-annual appraisals.

3. Better equipped to do their job well

Like in the example that Bev gave, a lot of managers only focus on the first two points but, for appraisals and 1-1s to be truly meaningful and impactful, they need to help employees identify how they can do their job even better; 92% of people agree that ‘negative’ feedback, when delivered well, improves performance.

Delivering Meaningful and Impactful 1-1s and Appraisals

Making time for delivering 1-1s and appraisals effectively offers a fantastic Return On Investment (ROI) and gives your organisation a great competitive advantage as, even though 98% of organisations agree that performance management is important, only 8% believe that the way they currently do 1-1s is effective.

If appraisals and 1-1s are something that you’re looking to improve in your organisation, have you signed up yet for our free ‘Delivering Meaningful and Impactful 1-1s and Appraisals’ webinar at 10:30am on Thursday 24th February 2022.

This webinar will provide you with a simple but highly effective framework for delivering truly impactful 1-1s and appraisals.

To sign up for this free webinar, please click here: https://ninedots.co.uk/Webinar/joiningthedots

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Until next time...