Driving Performance with Effective One-on-Ones | Ep 25
On today's episode on Veritas Vantage, Supply Chain Leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines discuss the critical importance of conducting structured one-on-one meetings with employees to enhance their performance and engagement. Learn effective strategies for structuring these meetings, whether from a sales or operations perspective, and discover how to set clear goals, provide valuable feedback, and ensure follow-up. They also explore the frequency and structure variations needed based on an employee's tenure and role in the organization. Tune in to find out how great leadership can significantly impact employee retention and productivity.
The Logistics & Leadership Podcast, powered by Veritas Logistics, redefines logistics and personal growth. Hosted by industry veterans and supply chain leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines, it shares their journey from humble beginnings to a $50 million company. Discover invaluable lessons in logistics, mental toughness, and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit. The show delves into personal and professional development, routine, and the power of betting on oneself. From inspiring stories to practical insights, this podcast is a must for aspiring entrepreneurs, logistics professionals, and anyone seeking to push limits and achieve success.
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introduction: The Importance of Employee One-on-Ones
(01:09) - Setting Goals and Meeting Objectives
(03:06) - Balancing Employee and Leader Time
(04:32) - Follow-Up and Accountability
(06:53) - Frequency and Engagement
(08:14) - Personal Experiences and Leadership Insights
(10:38) - Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode
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Transcript
If you do not invest and continue to develop your top employees, you're going to be looking for new employees.
Speaker A:Today we're going to be talking about the importance of employee one on ones.
Speaker B:I think a big thing that nobody really talks about is you need to have a one on one with your employee.
Speaker B:But they don't talk about structure.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Like, how do you structure those?
Speaker B:Do you go into a meeting and all, you know, talk the whole time about financials and numbers and KPIs, like maybe, maybe that's part of it.
Speaker B:But how do you structure.
Speaker B:Okay, here's where we're at today.
Speaker B:How do we get better?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:The purpose of a one on one is to, you know, answer any questions that might person might have and then, you know, get them to a better place or get them to perform better results.
Speaker B:I think there are several different ways and there's a million templates out there on the Internet to figure out how to, how to structure these.
Speaker B:But I think what do you think are some of the best ways to structure from a sales perspective as well as like an operations perspective to maximize each employee?
Speaker A:I think what it boils down to is what exactly are you trying to push?
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:You know, if you're meeting with sales, what's the goal of that meeting?
Speaker A:You know, you have your group meetings, your team meetings, you have your individual meetings, whether they're developmental, whether they're disciplinary.
Speaker A:You know, you have to have a goal of that meeting.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:If we're just throwing meetings on the calendar just to fill up the calendar, that's how you piss off a sales rep.
Speaker A:And I'm sure you can relate.
Speaker A:But one thing that pissed me off more than anything is if I just have a bunch of meetings on my calendar and I don't see any value.
Speaker A:Like you take your sales reps off the floor, you're wasting their time.
Speaker B:I was probably a bad sales rep.
Speaker B:I just didn't attend those meetings.
Speaker B:And I used to always say this.
Speaker B:I said, money's made at my desk.
Speaker B:So it's true, it's true.
Speaker B:I was probably a bad one.
Speaker B:So I'm probably not a good example of that.
Speaker B:Now that I'm a leader, I'm like, okay, like, hey, you need to be in here.
Speaker B:Like, this is good.
Speaker B:This is important information.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I think another thing like, you know, building strong relationships with that person and engaging with them I think is huge.
Speaker B:Where you can, you know, get to learn a little bit more about them and what they want.
Speaker B:And you know, we talked about it on a couple Podcasts ago.
Speaker B:But, you know, what are their goals?
Speaker B:What is it that they truly want?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And how do we help them achieve their goals?
Speaker B:You know, going back to the structure piece, is there a way that you feel like has worked for you better than.
Speaker B:Better than others?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think knowing your people, what they, what they need help with or, you know, I mentioned this before, I didn't really ask your question before, but, you know, what is the goal of the meeting?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, if you have an employee and you know that they're struggling with closing new accounts or penetrating one of their current clients, that is the goal of the meeting.
Speaker A:And if you're meeting with a sales rep, how can we make that 15, 20, 30 minutes as valuable as possible?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:So that they're taking something away and they know, damn, that was a good meeting.
Speaker A:Like, that helped big time.
Speaker A:I'm going to go back on the sales floor.
Speaker A:I'm doing that immediately.
Speaker A:You have those meetings where it's their time.
Speaker A:You also had your meetings where it's your time.
Speaker A:What point do you want to get across?
Speaker A:Like, how do you want to develop that employee?
Speaker A:And it's usually very specific on why you're meeting, but you also want to have the time for.
Speaker A:To give them the floor where you're not just steamrolling them every single meeting and it's shoving information down their throat.
Speaker A:It's their time.
Speaker B:I think you said something earlier that I love.
Speaker B:It's like, okay, you go into a meeting, you set the goal.
Speaker B:Or like, this meeting is for this reason.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And I think you're right.
Speaker B:Like, I think so many meetings or so many one on ones, you give the person the floor and all they do is bitch.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:The first 10 minutes I'm bitching about this.
Speaker B:Bitching about, like, no, like, not solving any problems.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And it's like, okay, how do we transition this?
Speaker B:Like, I hear you, I understand you.
Speaker B:How do we make this better?
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I think like, with, you know, that like an employee that might do that, I think trying to empower them to say, hey, I understand your frustrations and I get it.
Speaker B:I've been there too.
Speaker B:Like more of like an empathy side.
Speaker B:And then, okay, what are some ways that we can solve this problem?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And that might be like, you're saying, like, your time to speak as a leader, as a manager.
Speaker B:Okay, there's your challenge.
Speaker B:How do we overcome this challenge?
Speaker A:So, Brian, you come up with a solution.
Speaker A:The employee, they're fired up.
Speaker A:They feel like they just saw they.
Speaker B:Got some private Time with the boss man.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, they just cured cancer.
Speaker A:What's next steps?
Speaker A:Like, what's the follow up?
Speaker A:You have the structure, you get your goal accomplished.
Speaker A:But what's follow up?
Speaker A:How do you see that throw?
Speaker B:I think, you know, the big thing is making sure.
Speaker B:And this is where I don't feel like enough leaders or managers do a good enough job at is rehashing the meeting from before.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So, okay, hey, listen, you know, today's Tuesday, the, you know, 10th, two weeks ago we met and it looks like, you know, I'm pulling up my notes from OneNote or any kind of like note taking application or.
Speaker B:Hell, if you want to do it in email, that's fine too.
Speaker B:But you know, OneNote is a thing that we use here internally where, you know, we're tracking what we said the past two meetings.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Are you still having that challenge from before, rehashing that?
Speaker B:Okay, well, it looks like you're still having the same issue.
Speaker B:Why didn't we take anything away from the last one on one we had?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:How do we address that again or if we need to address it again, making sure that we're, you know, hitting those points home so they can go out there on the sales floor and make some adjustments.
Speaker A:Another thing I love too, with, you know, mentioned OneNote.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:How do you know.
Speaker A:And you and I both know this, but you have a meeting and then there's nothing retained.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:So if we're, if we're pushing how.
Speaker B:To close business or.
Speaker A:No, like technology wise.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:How to set up a certain process in our platform.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:The follow up should be I want you to send me a video recording of you doing that process.
Speaker A:But you don't say that on the front end, you say that on the back end.
Speaker A:Because when I tell you to send me a recap of what we just discussed, and I'm blindsided you with that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I'm just testing to see whether or not you retain the information we discussed or am I wasting my time?
Speaker B:No, I think it's 100% valid.
Speaker B:I think there has to be some sort of recap or like you said, next steps.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So discussing what it is.
Speaker B:How do we get better?
Speaker B:Here's a new process that we're rolling out and then recapping that at the end.
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:Where, okay, here's what we're doing.
Speaker B:I'm going to send an email recap on this to describe exactly what we're doing, you know, or what we talked about during that meeting.
Speaker B:I think it's Huge, man.
Speaker B:I think that's.
Speaker B:Those are some of the things that get missed, especially in, you know, our logistics world or hell, I think in any sales, business, organizational world that's out there.
Speaker B:What are you really taking away from a one on one and rolling that into a progression or helping that person out with their career path.
Speaker A:I hear you there.
Speaker A:And then next piece I think is the free frequency.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, you have, you know, various caliber of employees, whether you know, they've been there a month or five years, 10 years.
Speaker A:How do your one on ones vary depending on employees tenure or position?
Speaker B:That's always a challenging thing.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:But my opinion is you have to meet with the newer employees a lot more.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Making sure that they're understanding the processes and the protocols and how we do things at our company or at, in, within our industry.
Speaker B:Then as a person starts getting it, they probably need less and less attention.
Speaker B:You know, a veteran salesperson that's performing and beating metrics or a veteran operations person that continues to go above and beyond and a master at their craft.
Speaker B:You probably need once a month.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Depending on what they want.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But you know, the newer person, I would say that's probably every other week to make sure that they get up to speed and then backing that down.
Speaker B:I think those, you know, when you talk about the frequency, I think those are, you know, kind of good rules to follow.
Speaker B:You don't have to specifically follow them to a T but you know, making sure that you're getting time, you know, with those people.
Speaker A:You know, you talk about frequency.
Speaker A:I think, I think the main point is to keep your employees engaged.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And growing.
Speaker A:You know, Brian, you and I had a two year, not compete.
Speaker A:We both had different roles when we set out that two year.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Uh, I went to a payroll company where I was, I was selling, slinging payroll and HR left and right.
Speaker A:I had an awesome supervisor who was, you know, very positive, very engaging like he was, he was, he was invested in me.
Speaker A:I knew that.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And I was always leaving.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because of what we were doing with, with our company.
Speaker A:But he did an unbelievable job keeping me engaged and keeping me invested in the company.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:And I wasn't staying there long term.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:So if I were, if it were, you know, the situation was different, he probably would have kept someone like me.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:On the contrary.
Speaker A:My wife was a PT and she worked at a company for three years.
Speaker A:She never had one meeting, never had one.
Speaker B:And when she told me that seems like bad leadership.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, she would come and you know, she doesn't bitch and moan, but she had hinted at never meeting with her boss.
Speaker B:That's interesting.
Speaker A:It's a smaller company.
Speaker A:Never met with her boss for three years.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker A:Needless to say, she's not at the company anymore.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I think there's many, you know, leaders out there that, you know, need a gut check.
Speaker B:And I think it's also, if you have the right type of employee.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:We discussed it on the last couple of episodes about hiring the right person.
Speaker B:There is a level of accountability.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Where people like you and me when we were in that role, I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row or I had my potential pipeline filled or I had details about that so I can give that to my boss.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, like, when you have these one on ones with your people and with your, you know, sales reps or operational folks, like, you know, there's a level of accountability there where they can bring stuff to the table and it's going to help them be more in tune with their sales process.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Last thing I'll add with the one on ones is your employees feel a lot of times more comfortable in that one on one environment.
Speaker A:They're going to be more vulnerable.
Speaker A:They're going to be more open about what they're struggling with or how they truly feel.
Speaker A:And I think that's where you uncover a lot of issues that they may not tell you in a group environment or on the sales floor.
Speaker A:So that's why it's important to get those things out of them and make them feel comfortable enough to share that with you.
Speaker A:Otherwise, you know, it may go three months down the road.
Speaker A:You have a meeting, they're like, you know, I've been struggling with X, Y and Z for the past three to four months.
Speaker B:And you're like, shit, I wish I knew that.
Speaker A:Three or four months.
Speaker D:Damn it.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, I think that, you know, there's always, you know, opportunities to learn, especially for leaders.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:For me and you today.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:There's always opportunities to learn, you know, go.
Speaker B:Going back to, you know, some of that vulnerability.
Speaker B:They might be dealing with an issue of, you know, a theft or a fraud issue and trying to combat that.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And we're going to talk about that next.
Speaker B:On the next episode.
Speaker A:There's other scams that these criminals are operating and most of them avoid, like using or leasing trailers.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And just taking the commodities themselves or waiting for some of these trailers to be abandoned or at a truck stop.
Speaker A:And they go and hijack the trailer or just pry open the doors and take the commodities?
