The concept that “communication is key” is nothing new. However, it is becoming increasingly important in an era where the need for communication is constant, and the means of communication are endless. Employees today have high expectations of what information they receive and how and when they receive it. One thing seems to be clear: more is good; faster is better.
Knowing this, we’ve made it a priority to communicate better and earlier with our team. Check out two different ways we are getting important information to our team.
Firm-Wide Communication: State of the Firm Event
As the firm grows, it becomes more and more important for all of our employees to understand the firm’s values, goals, and strategy. To ensure this transparency, Weinstein Spira holds our annual State of the Firm event for all employees every July.
During every SOTF event, leaders re-establish firm values, share results, highlight accomplishments achieved throughout the past year, articulate new firm goals, clarify the strategy behind obtaining those goals and share updates on ongoing initiatives. Providing a relaxed atmosphere with humor mixed into the serious, employees can hear all the things that we are working on to make the firm better.
While we hold regular, ongoing discussions about each of these items throughout the year, having one meeting with every single player in the firm allows us to really bring it all together and feel united in our purpose.
Oh and BTW, no Weinstein meeting is complete without some fun! Last year, we included a Lip-Sync Battle and big money prizes.
Individual Messages: Performance Evaluations
Now, we know what you’re thinking: standard performance reviews are THE WORST. We get you, and so did the evaluation committee who revamped the entire feedback process last year. We shifted away from the semi-annual holistic evaluations and moved towards direct feedback after every engagement or return. The outcome: quality, personalized messages communicated to developing staff given while feedback is still relevant.
- More Substantive Feedback – The new process focuses on engagement-specific feedback rather than six-month overall performance review. This change in mindset results in more substantive feedback.
- More Timely Feedback –The concise form provides a timelier way to provide feedback to employees shortly after they finish a job.
- The Next Job – With near instant feedback, employees can now apply feedback to their next job, instead of applying it during the next busy season. We have found that instant feedback after completing an assignment increases the return of the feedback on future engagements.
In the end, the better firm leaders communicate with their employees, the happier (and more productive) they’ll be. That’s because strong communication practices help foster healthy working relationships and organizational culture. Start talking now. Your employees are listening!
