Q. How do you respond to employee concerns?
The last thing you want to do is be condescending. They need time to breathe, to think, to help that person heal. Because we are such a tight-knit group, it is like letting go of a family member. Everybody in this organization is very close to one or three or four people. If you let go of somebody, there is going to be some animosity. The thing I do is I make sure I talk to the people I thought were closest to that individual one on one and let them air their grievances.
They just want to talk and get it out on the table. I want them to be able to vent to me, not to other people to start the gossip chain. I want them to come to me. In company meetings and in division meetings, I make that statement before I leave every time: ‘If you have something you need to discuss one on one so it doesn’t get out into the gossip world, please come see me.’ People know you can talk to me about anything, and it’s going to stay with me. That’s the key. They know they can say anything they want to me, and it’s not going to be shared with anyone — not with their manager, with anybody.
Q. How do you help the employee feel more comfortable?
There isn’t anything else more important than that conversation with me. We’ll come in my office and go into a corner. I’ll sit directly across from them. There is no laptop or desktop. I move away from my desk to my conference table. I’ll give them the option.
I’ll say, ‘You know what, if you don’t feel comfortable talking in here, let’s go out and get something to eat or let’s take a walk outside.’ Sometimes walking and talking helps them express themselves better. Sometimes sitting down at lunch.
They don’t feel like they are in an environment that I’m going to win because I’m in my office. If they have their own office, I’ll go in their office and shut the door. I want them to feel like they are in their most comfortable environment in telling me what’s going on in their head.
If I need to take notes, I’ll take notes. But more often than not, when that situation occurs, it’s nothing more than me engaging and listening and keeping constant eye contact. You have to acknowledge with emotion and a shaking of the head that you understand what they are saying. You have to be engaged or it’s not going to look good.
How to reach: Columbus/Worthington Air, (614) 771-7001 or www.cwaohio.com
