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Gaining trust of remote employees

Victoria

I work for a company who have staff based at HQ as well as a number of staff who work remotely all over the world. My Directors are wanting me to have informal chats with all staff members to find out about what motivates them, what their pain points are, what the company is doing well and what it can improve. I know from experience that when HR comes calling for a chat, staff members are more than likely to clam up. I am looking for some advice on how to approach this and also how to approach it in a way that it is not sounding like I am trying to get information from them. 

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  • Be honest, be human and drop the jargon.

    HR bods often struggle with at least 2 out of three of them.

    I think you have said enough in your note above to start a good introductory email to then lead onto further face to face or direct dialogue (and agree with much of what colleagues have written....so (and know this isnt perfect but its a start)

    Dear

    I know from personal experience that when HR comes calling for a chat or you get an email from us , colleagues are likely to think something is wrong or they are giving us another task to do.

    But this time I am trying something different. Our Directors (would be better if you could say Bill our MD) is really keen to understand what the company is doing well and what it can improve upon, what motivates you and where your pain points are. Its about opening up a conversation we can have to make the organisation better and your job more enjoyable and productive.

    I have been asked by Bill to set up some informal opportunities where we can just chat through the above and see what we can come up with. Therefore don't be surprised when I give you a call/pop in etc over the next few weeks to start building a better picture for Bill and the Directors of where we are and what we need to do differently.

    In the meantime if you are in X (your location) feel free to pop in and say hi
  • in reply to Keith
    Hi Keith,

    Thanks for this, I do like this approach and it is something I have suggested to the Directors as I feel honesty is the best policy. However, the directors feel that if staff members are given advance warning about what I am wanting to discuss with them we won't get honest answers.

    I am going to try and approach this with them again and see if I can change their minds.

    Thanks again Keith
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  • in reply to Keith
    Hi Keith,

    Thanks for this, I do like this approach and it is something I have suggested to the Directors as I feel honesty is the best policy. However, the directors feel that if staff members are given advance warning about what I am wanting to discuss with them we won't get honest answers.

    I am going to try and approach this with them again and see if I can change their minds.

    Thanks again Keith
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  • in reply to Victoria
    You cant build trust without honesty. It is the very foundation. Its a pointless exercise and is as likely to backfire.

    Colleagues knowing in advance the broad areas you want to discuss can only help everyone.

    No wonder your organisation has trust issues if thats the approach of your Directors!

    Good luck!