Remarkable people and one-on-one meetings

By: Lori Goemans

I was recently having a conversation with a family member about “business-ey” type stuff.  In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that supervisors are expected to have a 30-minute one-on-one meeting with each of their direct employees.  Every week.  It’s so important to Lawton that we structured our organization to limit the number of direct reports every manager had, and we report and publish how many one-on-ones were completed each week.

Her response? “Do you know how much production time I would lose if we did that?” and she whipped out her calculator.

I countered, “Yes, we are well aware of the time it takes and we are more than happy to invest that time in our employees.”

Giving employees that dedicated time with their supervisor is critical.  It’s their time, they go first and they control the agenda.  When they are finished, the supervisor has the floor for whatever amount of time is left.  It’s an opportunity for them each to ask questions, discuss progress, and talk about development.  It’s also an opportunity for supervisors to learn about their employees, both on a professional and personal level.

The key to our 139 years of Remarkable Results is our Remarkable People.  I’d say they are worth the investment.