Do you dread touchpoints with your team and even go as far as to come up with reasons to cancel them? Do you treat them solely as a task to be checked off your list for the week? If so, you are missing out on the many benefits that come with regular check-ins with your employees. Let’s explore how to utilize touchpoints effectively and understand their importance in improving your company management system, moving your business forward, and improving your employee experience.
What is an Employee Touchpoint?
While the most common employee touchpoints are the scheduled meetings that occur between a manager and their employees, there are others over the lifetime of employment. The earliest touchpoint occurs during employee recruitment; this is the time when a candidate forms their very first opinion of their potential employment. Next, during the onboarding process, the employee will likely decide if they have made the right decision to come aboard. As time goes on, an employee gauges their desired longevity with the company based on their growth and development through regular touchpoints with their supervisor. Finally, the exit strategy when employment ends marks another touchpoint, finalizing the employee’s experience with the company.
Five Benefits of Regular Employee Touchpoints
Regular employee touchpoints contribute to the success of any organization. If executed correctly, they are an incredibly useful tool that increases employee satisfaction and leads to enhanced customer experience.
These touchpoints provide an opportunity for supervisors to conduct individual touch bases with their team. They benefit the employer, the employee, and the overall company in vastly different ways. It is a time for problem-solving and giving and receiving feedback on company and management improvements. Taking action on the outcomes of these meetings leads to positive improvements in your organization.
Reduce Turnover
Frequent turnover is time-consuming, costly, and can threaten the success of your company. If you have taken the time and expended the resources to find a qualified candidate for a position in your company, do the work to keep them. There is no better way to achieve this goal of retaining employees than to make them a priority with open and honest communication via regularly scheduled touchpoints.
When you are conducting regular meetings with your employees, it is less likely that a resignation will come as a surprise. These touchpoints serve as an opportunity to gain insight into issues that may cause someone to start looking for new employment. There is no greater disruption to business than the loss of an exemplary employee.
Build and Nurture Relationships
Open dialogue strengthens employee experience by building cohesive working relationships between supervisors and employees. Investing time and effort into consistently meeting with your team maintains the feelings of shared responsibility and support. Consistent checkpoints between employees and supervisors develop healthy workplace relationships and as a consequence, create stronger employee engagement.
Employees also connect with each other through checkpoints. Strong peer relationships are vitally important in the workplace. When employees are encouraged to share their life outside work, it inspires bonding within the team. Employees value the notion that their personal commitments are important to their supervisor and colleagues.
Stay in the Know
When consistent meetings are not occurring, it is easy to become disconnected from important updates. Touchpoints ensure you are up to date with what your employee is working on, their productivity, and their overall employee experience. Being regularly “in the know” means you are less likely to be caught off-guard by something an employee chooses to share.
Touchpoints also ensure your employees are in the know about what is going on at the company. Regular communication ensures your employees are aware of any deadlines, changes, expectations, and company updates which is important for the efficiency of their work and the state of your company. They want the sense of feeling they are in the group, not out of the loop.
Solve Problems Quicker
Many issues can be avoided with frequent touch bases. The faster small problems are brought to the surface via touchpoints, the quicker they can be resolved. Without touchpoints, it is likely that small problems will evolve into larger, time-consuming problems.
Additionally, regular touchpoints allow both the employee and the supervisor to learn from each other, resulting in greater effectiveness in projects and the avoidance of potential problems or conflicts. The old adage is true; two heads are better than one especially when you are trying to solve problems quickly.
Increase Employee Engagement
Employee happiness, encouraged innovation, commitment, and positive work culture are all outcomes of increased employee engagement. When you are conducting touchpoints with employees, you are participating in a collaboration that can evolve into a true partnership.
When engaged, an employee is more likely to be successful. Their productivity is higher and they are more likely to achieve their goals to benefit your company. That engagement is contagious and trickles into their collaboration with peers.
Improve Your Employee Experience With Help From an Outsourced HR Consultant
Your most important asset is your employees. Choosing and retaining the right people are essential in building a positive work environment with engaged employees. Regular touchpoints with your employees are conducive to employee engagement and retention. It’s common for business owners to need help in establishing people processes, especially as they scale. If you are ready to partner with a resource that can help you take your approach to people management, through ongoing performance management, meeting rhythms, and touchpoints, to the next level, contact us to connect with one of our HR Consultants.
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash
