Best Practices For Check-Ins
The purpose of check-ins is to make sure employees’ expectations are clear, share
feedback, and discuss development needs to enhance their performance. The flow of Check-in follows three core steps:
| 1. Expectations | First, agree on what is expected of employees for the year in terms of deliverable, behavior, and contributions. |
| 2. Feedback | Next, provide frequent, two-way feedback to see how employees are progressing against expectations and let managers know if they could be doing something differently to better support the employee. |
| 3. Development | Then, when employees know how they are performing, they can plan actionable goals in terms of learning, career, and experience. |
When should check-ins happen?
- Check-ins should be scheduled at least once a quarter and typically are 60-90
minutes long. - Expectations should be set in check-in at the beginning of Q1 to clarify
objectives for the year ahead. - Feedback can be provided throughout the year, not only for check-ins.
- Development-focused check-ins are driven by the employee and should be
scheduled when they feel appropriate. Typically, development conversations may happen once or twice per year.
Development: Discussion guide for people managers
Guidelines:
● Expectations and feedback check-ins must happen before a development
conversation.
● Encourage, don’t direct.
● Support employees on their development journey.
● Provide a business context.
● Listen 70%/Talk 30%
● Provide clarity, but don’t feel like you have to have all the answers.
● Remember this is a journey: don’t move straight to action.
| Current state | ● “What parts of your position do you find most satisfying and why?” ● “What parts are less satisfying and why?” |
| Strengths | ● “What are your key skills and strengths?” ● “What is a critical development area for you?” ● “What business trends or skills do you need to learn more about to remain nimble and relevant?” |
| Aspirations | ● “What are your short and long-term career goals?” ● “Let’s look at how your aspirations link to the company’s goals.” ● “Do you have a specific career move that you want to make?” (Specialist to expert, buddy to boss, international moves, etc.) |
| Plan | ● “What types of experiences, coaching, and/or learning do you need to fulfill your aspirations?” ● “What will be the potential results/business impact of these activities?” ● “As your manager, how can I help?” |
| Action | ● “What specific actions can you take to achieve your goal(s)?” ● “What obstacles, if any, may get in the way?” ● “How would you like us to monitor your progress against these goals?” |
Follow through:
● Employee completes an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
● Guide employees to online/on-demand resources.
● Explore internal opportunities (roles, transfers, projects, etc.).
● Confirm date for next development check-in to review progress.
● Ideally, you should review development plans every 3-6 months as part of
check-in.
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