How to prepare your managers to manage (Part 2)
How to engage, develop and retain
In part 1 we covered how to start from the people management fundamentals.
In reality, real employee development happens in the day-to-day: in the quality of your one-on-ones, in fact-based feedback, and in the systems you put in place before you ever book a seat at an offsite conference.
Too often, engagement, talent retention and performance stalls because managers haven’t been set up to give and receive feedback. I’m not saying every manager must become a full-time coach. But before investing in fancy leadership programs, we need to set clear coaching standards and define managers’ feedback responsibilities with their teams.
Let’s start by what we want to avoid.
Share feedback only 1 or 2 times in the year during yearly performance reviews.
Feedback is not factual
Focusing solely on gaps—never acknowledging strengths.
Neglecting to agree on concrete next steps or a development plan.
Failing to document the discussion and agreed actions.
Skipping follow-up to track progress on past feedback.
The list goes on.
This is not good enough, especially that now new generations take their development seriously. If your managers are not committed to provide feedback, you will suffer in terms of retention, and performance. It’s as simple.
In this part 2, we focus one-on-ones and appraisal meetings. Nail these, and you’ll see real improvement before you ever spend a dime on external programs.
Monitoring development and performance
1. The one one ones
The definition of a one on one is often blurry. Managers may not understand how to operate them, and as a result, they put a bit of everything inside. The reason for this is that one on one is also a fluffy term, the process is not really clear, we do not know what to put in a one on one.
Here are common manager feedback
“I do not have time for one on one”
“I do one on ones every week to deal with operational job priorities”
“What do you mean by one on one?”
What is a one on one
A one on one is a dedicated, private meeting between a manager and a direct report, typically held weekly or bi-weekly. Its purpose is to create a safe space where the employee can share updates, challenges, and career ambitions, and the manager can give timely feedback, coaching, and support. By carving out this regular touchpoint, you ensure alignment on priorities, catch small issues before they grow, and build trust through consistent, two-way dialogue.
What should you include in a one on one
To make every one on one productive and focused, include:
Progress on goals: Review key objectives, celebrate wins, and spot any delays.
Current challenges: Ask what’s blocking the employee and brainstorm solutions together.
Feedback exchange: Give clear, actionable feedback—and invite the employee’s thoughts on your leadership.
Development and career: Discuss skills they want to build, upcoming stretch assignments, or training needs.
Next steps and commitments: Agree on concrete actions, set deadlines, and confirm who owns each item.
Open questions: Leave time for the employee to raise any topic—this keeps the meeting employee-led and ensures they feel heard.
Data behind one one ones 💡
67% less disengagement: Managers whose direct reports have twice the number of one-on-ones are 67% less likely to have disengaged employees.
33% lower voluntary exits: Teams led by managers holding regular one-on-ones see voluntary turnover drop by nearly 33%.
21% higher productivity: Engaged teams—fosteredthrough consistent one-on-ones—are 21% more productive than their disengaged counterparts.
How to implement on one ones
Be realistic, your managers will not implement them every week as you want ( or at least right away).
To my view managers have no problem to meet their teams to discussion operational details, they do it every day, or every week during their weekly meeting. To get results, implement one on ones to focus on a clear objectives:
Objective: Feedback exchange / Career / Performance
Minimum expectation : at least once per quarter.
Which means your manager duties needs to at least meet their subordinates for. :
Quarterly one on ones Feedback exchange / Career / Performance
Mid year review : Formal process for performance
Year end review : Performance
Before you come with something more fancy, let’s stick with the basics shall we? These minimum manager oblligations is light enough, but ensure the milestones of what we want to acheive long term : increase the ownership of people development by first line managers.
The structure of one on ones
Open the conversation : Ask open ended questions. Overall feedback and engagement. It can be personal - Or professional.
Progress update (Performance or Competency development progress)
Review key metrics or milestones since last meeting.
Blockers and challenges (Performance or Competency development progress)
Diagnose roadblocks—tools, processes, or skill gaps.
Feedback exchange (Performance or Competency development progress)
Manager gives specific, fact-based feedback.
Employees share what support they need.
Agreed steps (Performance or Competency development progress)
Agree on commitments, deadlines, and who owns what.
Are we getting closer from long term goals
Engage on career path, competency development progress, what is missing to complete milestones, support required.
Important : I realized that although it seems easy in practice, managers usually take the spotlight and take the occasion to give solution to subordinates. In the end, one on ones transforms as a one sided discussion, and a big lecture that is not productive for the engagement of the subordinate.
Fish = Solution “You provide the answer”
- Is quick and simple- Done the way you would have done it- Relieve pain & stress of the team member
- Emergency- Overload- Stress- Lack of skills- Your own priority is not clear
Net = Empower “The subordinate provides the answer”
- Develop team member autonomy- Support team member self-confidence- Develop skills and imagination
- Important subject- Complex situations (no just one answer)- Need for support- Already knows the job and has the skills
Think when to fish or Net when you schedule one on ones.
C) tool for one on ones : the GROW model
Use GROW to structure deep, action-focused coaching. The grow model is straightforward for managers because it is action oriented. It is also supporting empowerment techniques to have subordinates commit to action plans (the subordinate suggest the way forward and the action plan).
Goal
“What specifically do you want to achieve?”
Clear target (e.g., close 10 deals)
Reality
“Where are you now relative to that goal?”
Honest status (e.g., 4 closed, blockers X)
Options
“What could you try next?”
Brainstormed actions (cold emails, referrals)
Will
“What will you do, by when?”
Commitment (send 20 emails by Friday)
how to use
Start every one-on-one with a quick GROW check-in.
Capture the agreed actions in a shared doc.
Review progress on past commitments before moving on.
Important
Remember SMART action plans? Documents the way forward.
2. Performance review appraisals
The performance reviews are formal meetings where you give / receive feedback on the achievement of the objectives (KPIs/ OKR) and competency development. Performance reviews are your formal check-point for promotion, development, and—if needed—termination. Performance reviews should not come as a surprise.
no surprises!
If you’ve been consistent with one-on-ones, your employee knows exactly what to expect.
Managers MUST be able to perform effective perdormance reviews to support promotions and salary increases. It helps subordinates give their all to acheive their professional goals. Last but not least, performance reviews have a legal value and serve as evidence in termination and discipline cases.
Outputs
Acknowledge / Mitigate / Reward. : Impact on Bonus, salary increases.
making development decisions (promote, upskill, reassign)
ensuring long-term growth (roadmaps, career paths)
What gets reviewed
objective achievement: Did we hit KPIs/OKRs?
competency development: Progress on critical skills and behaviors.
feedback history: Themes surfaced in one-on-ones.future potential: Learning agility, stretch assignments.
How to prepare the performance review appraisal
Here’s a concise, step-by-step breakdown of the full performance-management workflow from preparation through follow-up:
Performance appraisals tend to go smoothly when all objectives have been acheived. Assuming the objectives where ambitious and realistic enough, the action plan has been followed it's a win, congratulations.
This is why we emphasized on providing SMART action plans for KPIs, IDP for competencies in part 1. Now you get factual data on previous activity, and your ability to provide feedback is critical to evaluate this performance.
Promoting, developing, terminating
Follow your company policy. If there is no company policy, I suggest to define clear guidelines to support salary increase and bonus attribution. For example :
- KPI achievement= defines bonus and accounts for 50% of salary increase
- Competency development achievement = accounts for 50% of the salary increase.
promoting
be factual: Use objective criteria (KPIs + competency progress).
assess potential: Don’t promote purely on current performance—consider learning agility.
plan the transition: Agree on new responsibilities, training, and timeline.
Every employee that meets performance does not mean they need to be promoted. The evaluation of the results, potential must be taken into consideration together with job availability. In addition to KPIs, Competency development is a criteria that evaluates the learning agility . For example you may have 2 employees, one has been very senior, expert level at technical skills, stable for years and did not display the same learning agility as another employee B who has been progressing fast in the last 3 years, especially when it comes to sofft skills.
When promoting, do consider the achievement of goals but also the progress towards competencies especially for some critical soft skills that are required for the job.
example of promotions
Employee A: Expert technical skills, stable but limited growth → lateral expert path
Employee B: Rapid learning and leadership potential → vertical promotion to team lead
Developing
IDP follow-up: Link appraisal outcomes to individual development plans.
stretch assignments: Assign projects that build targeted skills.
mentoring/coaching: Pair with senior leaders or external coaches.
Terminating
Termination also should not come as a surprise. Before a termination, there must be a mitigation plan and a correction plan provided to the employee to ensure there is guidance towards the goals. In some cases the employee will NOT show willingness to work towards the correction plan. In some cases the employee will show willingness - and it does not mean they will succeed, but these factors should be part of the evaluation as well.
This is important has the mitigation plan is enough evidence for you to provide, and for the company to avoid having the lawsuit if the employee contests a termination for performance reasons.
mitigation plan first: Document performance plans and missed checkpoints.
factual evidence: Show dates, data points, prior feedback.
respect legal process: Ensure HR sign-off to minimize legal risk.
tough feedback methodology
Display the data: “Your sales were down 15% vs target.”
Explain the impact: “That left the region short $50K.”
Share your view: “I was surprised—this deviated from our plan.”
Agree next steps: “Let’s reset your pipeline and set weekly checkpoints.”
How to give a tough feedback
Feedback isn’t a monologue—it’s a structured, two-way conversation. The FIAC model gives you a simple four-step framework to turn awkward “feedback moments” into clear, constructive coaching sessions. In practice usually wait for performance reviews to provide tough feedback. Obviously, the ability to give feedback must be delivered all the way through, from one on ones, to performance reviews.
1. fact – get on the same page
Start by stating the observable event without judgment. Be precise: “Last week’s report was submitted two days late.” Then check for understanding: “Does that match what you saw?” This ensures you and your report share the same facts before moving on.
2. impact – make it real
Explain why the late report matters—to the team, the project, and to you as their manager. For example: “When deadlines slip, our stakeholders lose confidence in our delivery. I worry we’ll miss our next milestone.” Sharing how it affects you and the organization creates mutual urgency.
3. alternatives – co-create solutions
Invite your team member to suggest next steps: “How could we prevent this delay next time?” If they struggle, offer ideas: “We could set intermediate check-ins or use a shared tracker.” The goal is to shift from “you did this wrong” to “let’s solve it together,” which builds ownership and skill.
4. conclusion – agree on the outcome
End by spelling out the new agreement and vision of success: “So we’ll check in every Tuesday morning, and you’ll send me your draft outline by Friday. That way, we stay on track and hit our next deadline.” A clear wrap-up cements accountability and leaves both parties confident.
Why FIAC works
Clarity: Facts first avoid misinterpretation.
Empathy: Impact shows you care about results and people.
Empowerment: Alternatives turn feedback into action plans.
Alignment: Conclusion locks in commitments and expectations.
Use FIAC in your next one-on-one or ad-hoc coaching moment—you’ll notice feedback feels less like criticism and more like collaborative problem solving.
Takeaways for implementation
build feedback muscles before investing in big programs.
one-on-ones + GROW = continuous coaching engine.
data + dialogue remove surprises in performance reviews.
transparent criteria keep promotions fair and terminations defensible.
oh wow, very comprehensive and useful :)