Immersive Experience | The Manager's Ultimate Guide to Great Conversations

THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS Manager-employee conversations that promote connection, alignment, and retention

TABLE OF CONTENTS Good Conversations Matter 3 How We De昀椀ne Conversations Versus Feedback 7 Planning Your Conversations 9 Structured vs. anytime conversations 10 Types of questions to ask 12 Types of Conversations to Consider 13 Conversation types 13 Frequency 15 What to Say and How to Say It 17 Psychology of conversations 17 Anatomy of a good conversation 20 Using templates to guide and document conversations 21 Having Di昀漀cult Conversations 22 8 ways technology can make tough conversations easier 22 After the Conversation 24 THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 2

GOOD CONVERSATIONS MATTER E昀昀ective and frequent conversations can promote greater productivity, engagement, and retention. For many managers, however, talking with employees about their work performance and career development can be complicated or even stressful. This has become even more so as we adapt to hybrid or remote work environments. Virtual meetings can feel more transactional than in-person meetings. In such settings, it’s also di昀漀cult to read body language, which is important when providing and discussing feedback. But good conversations are absolutely fundamental to being a supportive and e昀昀ective people manager — and a skill that is worth cultivating if you want to be a true leader. Increased pressure on managers As a manager, you are critical to your employees’ experiences. Studies show that the manager-employee relationship is the most important one employees will encounter at every stage of their journey — in fact, according to Gallup, managers alone account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Good managers are not just supervisors — they are guides, champions, communicators, change makers, cultural ambassadors, mentors, and coaches who can motivate and inspire their teams to deliver their best performance and advance personally and professionally. This linchpin role makes it critical that as managers, you also feel supported in your mission. Unfortunately, exhausted, isolated, or burned-out managers are all too common in the post-pandemic workplace. In fact, a recent Gallup report found that managers are more likely to experience burnout than the average employee. Among the top challenges facing managers, Gallup found, is a lack of clarity around expectations — along with stress and frustrations from heavy workloads and distractions. Getting clarity on the best ways to e昀漀ciently and e昀昀ectively communicate with employees will be a huge bene昀椀t for you as a manager. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 3

GOOD CONVERSATIONS MATTER A foundational value of regular conversations is meant to build trust and relationship. If employees don’t trust their manager or don’t feel the relationship is sincere, every interaction and conversation remains surface-level. Conversations need to be earnest, open, and honest to be meaningful. Managers are the linchpin in every organization for how employees feel at work. — Caitlin Collins | Organizational Psychologist & Program Strategy Director, Betterworks What employees want Time and again, surveys have shown that employees crave more frequent and substantive guidance, support, and encouragement from managers — and the old annual evaluation just isn’t cutting it for 92% of them. Consider this recent report from McKinsey about what frontline employees are seeking in 2022. Among their top four concerns — along with pay — are: Job Learning Alignment Supportive growth opportunities of skills manager It’s no surprise that all four of these needs are explicitly linked to conversations with managers around performance, goals, and career growth. Yet, despite this appetite for guidance, Betterworks research shows that only 39% of employees say current check-ins are working well for them. So where is the disconnect? What are employees looking for, and how can you provide it? The Betterworks 2022 State of Performance Enablement Report provides some insights. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 4

GOOD CONVERSATIONS MATTER More frequent conversations One issue for many employees is simply the frequency and availability of check-ins with their manager. 53% 53% of employees don’t 1 in 10 employees discuss career and growth 1 in 3 employees don’t get 1:1 with managers more than once check-ins with a direct manager rarely or never get check-ins a quarter and 20% rarely or for feedback and coaching on never have such discussions work and progress toward goals more than twice a year 20% Focus on the right things Check-ins should include a healthy balance of performance coaching and career development discussions. 31% 33% 30% Employees would like check-ins to be more focused on: Goals Career Collaborative growth with managers 64% A technology assist Use the tools you have available to schedule, assist, and document the process. of employees told us they wish they had a technology solution Only 4 in 10 employees told us they feel they have a helpful tool to for more easily giving document their career aspirations and determine skills needed to reach them and receiving feedback Having software employees don’t like or don’t 昀椀nd helpful actually and recognition. underperforms having no software at all. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 5

GOOD CONVERSATIONS MATTER To be heard Helping employees feel heard means providing space for them to express their thoughts and feelings. As a manger, the best action you can take is to actively and re昀氀ectively listen, acknowledge, and validate them — and not jump to judgment or try to 昀椀x things. Building trust and a good relationship with your direct reports is critical to having valuable and successful conversations, and simply showing up and ‘sitting’ with someone in the way that the individual needs it is foundational for this. According to The Workforce Institute at UKG, authentic conversations go a long way toward helping employees feel engaged and productive. Highly engaged Nearly three-quarters employees are of employees 3X more likely to say 74% they feel heard at their workplace (92%) than highly report they are more disengaged e昀昀ective at their job employees (30%) when they feel heard This guide is designed to give managers actionable advice on planning, structuring, and having more e昀昀ective conversations with employees. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 6

HOW WE DEFINE CONVERSATIONS VERSUS FEEDBACK There are many ways managers can talk with employees about their work, performance, goals, and careers. All communications and dialogue about work and career — whether planned or spontaneous, structured or free-form, verbal or written — could fairly be classi昀椀ed as feedback, a conversation, or both. Unpacking the terms At Betterworks, we follow the lead of organizational psychologists and bucket these interactions into two general categories: conversations, which are the topic of this guide, and feedback — which is something we will unpack in our upcoming companion piece. The goal for both types of interactions is to drive consistency, readiness, immediacy, and actionable outcomes. It’s important to have these interactions in real time to better understand the needs of your direct reports and o昀昀er guidance that is meaningful, as well as better enable growth, learning, and connectedness. — Caitlin Collins | Organizational Psychologist & Program Strategy Director, Betterworks THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 7

HOW WE DEFINE CONVERSATIONS VERSUS FEEDBACK Here is how we de昀椀ne them. Conversations: • Between a manager and a direct or skip-level report • Formal or informal • Scheduled or spontaneous • Future-focused coaching and development moments ? • Focus is usually on facilitating success in employee behaviors, success strategies, goals, and career aspirations We de昀椀ne conversations as dialogues between a manager and their employee. This might be a direct reporting or a skip-level relationship, but it will always occur within a vertical reporting structure — where the manager carries responsibility for employee performance. Conversations may be scheduled sessions or informal two-way check-ins. Ideally, they would have both a verbal and a written component — making them useful for guiding and also recording and measuring progress. Conversations might include: • Performance or skills assessment • Problem solving • Goal setting or tracking • Coaching • Recognition • Growth and career development ? Feedback: • Between an employee and anyone they work with • Formal or informal • Scheduled or spontaneous • Examines behavior that has already occurred to facilitate learning • Focus is on re昀氀ections that help an individual close the gap between where they are and where they should be Feedback can — and should often — take place between co-workers, peers, or leaders who have worked with an employee. Feedback might be solicited by an employee, prompted by the organization, requested, or o昀昀ered by a manager or any employee. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 8

PLANNING YOUR CONVERSATIONS You may be wondering about when and how to initiate conversations with employees about their work and goals. When companies have 昀氀exible, dedicated performance management technology (such as Betterworks) in place, it becomes easier to follow and share best practices and templates around check-ins. This opens regular, predictable channels of communication and lifts the burden from managers to create and manage conversation infrastructure themselves — increasing adoption and facilitating better outcomes. You can provide conversations and coaching through a variety of di昀昀erent mediums and at di昀昀erent cadences, depending on the topic and urgency. Check-ins will often be face-to-face conversations, either in person or virtually, but it is important to have technology available to document and create more accessibility and transparency in the process. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 9

PLANNING YOUR CONVERSATIONS STRUCTURED VS. ANYTIME CONVERSATIONS There are two ways to approach planning conversations: 1. Structured conversations These planned and scheduled interactions are typically part of your organization’s or team’s established performance management practice. They might comprise periodic performance reviews or monthly or weekly check-ins that begin in your performance management or goal-tracking software. The interactions will be scheduled and follow a standardized template. PROS » Consistent, frequent opportunity for communication » Creates clear expectations on both sides » Familiar templates help both parties stay on topic and yield more substantive conversations » Templates can ensure attention is paid to both performance and career conversations » Written responses can be recorded and provide better insights for performance evaluation CONS » May become formulaic, neglected, or a check-the- box exercise » Timing may be delayed from events as they happened THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 10

PLANNING YOUR CONVERSATIONS 2. Anytime conversations Spontaneous feedback is a good way to respond to urgent needs. Studies show that coaching on behavior — whether positive or critical — is best provided as close as possible to the event that inspired it. That makes ‘anytime conversations’ a very important part of any manager’s toolkit. Anytime conversations might also include recognition, triage for a concern, or any other need that arises during the normal course of work. For an informal check-in, you might follow a template provided within your performance management platform — or it might take place outside that environment entirely. PROS CONS » Quickly highlight wins or address » Unexpected conversations may acute issues provoke anxiety » Provide coaching closer to when issues occur » Use a wide variety of communication channels » Follow templates in your performance management solution or give free- form coaching » Respond quickly to employee concerns THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 11

PLANNING YOUR CONVERSATIONS TYPES OF QUESTIONS TO ASK The questions for employees and managers to answer — and their scoring — will ultimately be based upon the type of conversation taking place and the goals and values of each employer. This short list o昀昀ers examples of questions that you may ask during structured and unstructured (anytime) conversations. Structured For employees: » At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. (4-pt scale) » How do you feel about your OKR (objectives and key results) achievement this past quarter? (3-pt scale)? » What would you like to achieve over the next quarter? Why? For managers: » How would you describe your employee’s performance this quarter? » What are some areas the employee can focus on to enhance their performance? » How can you help your employee achieve his/her goals? Unstructured For employees: » How is the progress on your goals going? Are there any that need to be reviewed / re-prioritized? » What is your con昀椀dence level in achieving your goals this quarter? » Do you understand what you need to do to have more impact? For managers: » Are there any priorities to be reviewed or shifted? » What opportunities do these goals provide your direct report? » What are some skills that would be valuable for their growth and what opportunities can you suggest to support their development of those skills? THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 12

TYPES OF CONVERSATIONS TO CONSIDER A healthy 昀氀ow of communication from managers should incorporate both scheduled conversations and spontaneous, anytime observations, encouragement, and recognition. Here are some of the kinds of conversations you can have, along with their typical frequency. Many of these interactions can be facilitated by templates in your performance management platform — making it easier to create more e昀昀ective moments, whether they are previously scheduled or not. If these templates are not currently available to you, check with HR to determine whether a standard set of questions can be developed. CONVERSATION TYPES Open lines of communication Type: anytime Frequency: 1x per week min Channels: email, video, call, in person An open line of communication is a series of regular, informal touch points with your team and direct reports. This establishes trust, builds relationships, and helps employees feel they can come to you at any time, even when it’s not about work. Check-ins are about connecting with others and feeling connected to managers and the organization. 1:1 Check-ins Type: scheduled Frequency: 2-4x a month Channel: in person, call, video, plus performance management platform with follow-up meeting Use a scheduled template in your performance management solution, if you have one, to focus regularly on an employee’s work and progress on THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 13

TYPES OF CONVERSATIONS TO CONSIDER their goals. This simple touch point allows you to communicate expectations and gives your employee an opportunity to share what they’re working on, struggling with, or enjoying. Recognition moments Type: anytime Frequency: 2-4x a month Channels: email, app, in person, call, video, or performance management platform Take a moment every few weeks to recognize and appreciate employees for the good work they’re doing. Celebrate success in the moment and be speci昀椀c about employees’ contributions to shared success and how these re昀氀ect your values and mission. Multiple studies have shown that speci昀椀c and authentic recognition is hugely important to engagement. Troubleshooting and triage Type: anytime Frequency: As needed Channels: in person, call, or video, plus performance management platform Make time for di昀漀cult conversations or to respond to urgent needs as close as possible to the moment in which the problem occurs. Use real-time channels where possible — but be sure to document these in a secure way for increased understanding and recall. Development coaching Type: anytime or scheduled Frequency: 1-2x a quarter Channels: in person, call, or video, plus performance management platform with follow-up meeting Schedule a coaching conversation to touch base when employees need speci昀椀c in-depth discussions around skill-building or career development/planning. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 14

TYPES OF CONVERSATIONS TO CONSIDER End-of-quarter goals and performance review Type: scheduled Frequency: 1x a quarter Channels: in person, call, or video, plus performance management platform with follow-up meeting Schedule time at the end of every period to review employee goals and performance. FREQUENCY How often should you have these conversations? We gave some guidelines above, but the frequency of structured conversations will ultimately depend on your organization’s best practices. Gallup has found that employees who receive feedback from their managers are three times more likely to be engaged than employees who receive feedback once a year or less. Developing transparent and meaningful conversations requires ongoing relationship-building, which you can achieve through check-ins that occur weekly or every other week. This is a Betterworks best practice recommendation. You will want to calibrate the balance of structured to anytime check-ins to match your management style and your team’s needs. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 15

TYPES OF CONVERSATIONS TO CONSIDER The bottom line answer is really: check in with employees when you are inspired and have something to share, and be available to them at their request. The following sample calendar shows what structured and anytime check- ins might look like in practice. Sample calendar: Structured and anytime conversations Annual Program Overview 1x/quarter 1x/quarter 1x/quarter 1x/quarter Structured conversation Structured conversation Structured conversation Structured conversation with templated questions with templated questions with templated questions with templated questions (e.g. goals, performance, (e.g. goals, progress, (e.g. goals, progress, (e.g. goals, progress, coaching) development) development) development) Recognition Recognition Recognition Recognition 2x/month 2x/month 2x/month 2x/month 1:1 check-ins 6-12x/quarter + anytime conversations (as needed) Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 16

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT One of the biggest concerns for managers when providing their observations and o昀昀ering coaching is not what to say, but how to say it in the most e昀昀ective way. In this section, we’ll explore some of the insights and advice we’ve compiled at Betterworks to help managers conduct conversations most e昀昀ectively. Let’s begin by unpacking some important principles from individual and organizational psychology that in昀氀uence team communication — and then we’ll o昀昀er some tips and troubleshooting on how to have more e昀昀ective and motivating dialogues with your employees. PSYCHOLOGY OF CONVERSATIONS The human mind is a complicated machine, and sometimes — let’s face it — a ba昀渀ing puzzle. Here are some fundamentals you should keep in mind as you think about conversations with your employees. Understanding bias As humans, we are all pre-programmed with cognitive biases. Every one of us. Back in our cave-dwelling days, biases were useful little shortcuts programmed into our minds to help us react faster to saber-toothed tigers or acts of nature. Today, cognitive biases linger on as the instinctive leaps our minds make — our gut reactions and things we ‘know,’ though we’re not always sure how we know them. Sometimes they are useful, but more often they can lead us quickly to the wrong conclusions. They also tend to show themselves when it comes time for check-ins. Here are eight biases to keep top of mind when you’re thinking about employee conversations. Bandwagon e昀昀ect – This is sometimes called “herd mentality.” It means that in groups, our inclination is to go along with what other members of the group are doing. It’s important to understand that employees will be a昀昀ected by what others are doing on your team or in your organization — 1 and so will you. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 17

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT Ingroup bias – People naturally polarize into groups. This bias means people tend to view ‘their’ group as better, while outsiders are collectively viewed as inferior. As a manager, this is your opportunity to tear down silos and bring your team together with others. This is also something to watch 2 for and be wary of in cross-team feedback situations. Con昀椀rmation bias – People tend to ignore information that does not 昀椀t with their beliefs and weigh agreeable information more heavily. This is an especially concerning bias in conversations, as it means we tend to create evaluations that 昀椀t with our beliefs about employees — potentially forgetting other critical information that may be pertinent. Be sure to reference past conversations and notes, as well as feedback from others, to be sure you 3 have a full picture of each employee’s performance. Negativity bias – People pay more attention to and take more seriously negative rather than positive information. This bias is particularly common in check-in situations, where no matter how many positive things you say, the employee might 昀椀xate on one piece of criticism. This is one reason why it can be helpful to separate moments of appreciation and recognition from conversations that orient around changing behavior. Research shows that 4 the ratio of positive to negative comments should be no less than 6:1. System justi昀椀cation – People will prefer the status quo, seeing it as better, more legitimate, and more desirable than new alternatives. This bias is one reason many employees have di昀漀culty with change. People will tend to prefer the system they already have — so when you are trying to help them 5 do things in new ways, be aware you will be working against this bias. Spacing e昀昀ect – We tend to recall information better when it happens or is repeated over a longer span of time, as opposed to something that happens once, or in quick succession. This means that information should 6 be repeated over time if you really want it to sink in. Recency bias – The recency bias is our tendency to remember recent events most clearly. This is a good argument for frequent check-ins, because the longer you wait between conversations, the more likely you are to only recall the last few weeks and forget all of the things that 7 happened longer ago. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 18

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT A昀漀nity bias – The a昀漀nity bias causes people to gravitate toward others who appear to be like them. This means we have a preference for those we are most like or who are most like us, and can be less understanding of or fair toward those who are di昀昀erent. This could surface in how you regard people on your team, or you may notice it in how they treat one another 8 and the kind of criticism or encouragement they receive. These are just some of the cognitive biases that might come up during conversations. (A more detailed list can be found here, if you wish to explore the topic further.) To counterbalance the biases we all experience, managers should focus on being mindful. Before you act, take a moment between receiving information and responding. Assuming positive intent can be a good starting point. After making decisions, take time to re昀氀ect on what worked or did not work and why. A little thoughtfulness and applied empathy can go a long way in helping to avoid bias. Understanding memory Human memory is another faulty system. Studies of eyewitness accounts, for example, show that people tend to remember the same events in wildly di昀昀erent ways. Our brains are designed to forget things that we don’t identify as important, and emotions can cloud our recollection — at the time and later. If we try, we’re often able to recall traces of the memory, but not the details. This means our memories can’t always be trusted. When we provide criticism or re昀氀ection— especially if a lot of time has elapsed, we are often reacting to the emotion of the memory rather than accurately recalling details. This is one reason it is important to have conversations frequently and document them. Doing these things in real time allows us to be speci昀椀c about behavior, skill, and knowledge. People show up performing every day. If the behavior is not addressed early on and is reinforced through lack of attention, it becomes more di昀漀cult to adjust and creates demotivation. No one wants to go into an annual performance review thinking they’ve been doing well all year, only to 昀椀nd out they have not. When evaluating, coaching, providing feedback, or recognizing your employees, frequency matters. Real-time conversations matter. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 19

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT ANATOMY OF A GOOD CONVERSATION Going into an employee conversation with a clear structure and purpose is instrumental to emerging with a positive experience, shared understanding, and road map for moving forward. This is true whether the conversations are planned and scheduled, or simply a spontaneous check-in. It can be stressful for employees to receive unexpected or unstructured criticism. A good structure and agenda for your interaction – whether in a text-based exchange or a real-time conversation — will let you and your employees know what to expect, and feel more comfortable and in control of situations. 1. Prepare the conversation according to each employee’s needs 2. Communicate intent clearly 3. Prepare an agenda or checklist to guide the conversation 4. Provide context and examples 5. De昀椀ne your expectations 6. Create space for listening 7. Recommend next steps 8. Document agreed-upon takeaways and actions 9. Track ongoing progress 10. Celebrate success THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 20

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT USING TEMPLATES TO GUIDE AND DOCUMENT CONVERSATIONS You can use conversation templates to help you deliver your observations in a more powerful way, and your performance management solution, if you have one, should provide templates that can be con昀椀gured to re昀氀ect your organizational priorities. Similarly, you can use your performance management technology to document your conversations and record expectations so that you and your employees can both look back with shared understanding. This might include: • A record of the conversation agenda • Notes on the conversation topics and outcomes • Agreed-upon next steps for employees or managers • Formal goals and objectives • Follow-ups for future conversations THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 21

HAVING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS While nobody likes these, sometimes you will need to initiate conversations with employees that will be challenging to deliver or receive. Technology can be a helpful tool in facilitating these conversations by making them more objective and constructive. 8 WAYS TECHNOLOGY CAN MAKE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS EASIER Establish a regular cadence of check-ins If you are meeting regularly with your reports, you will be less likely to blindside them with information they are not expecting to hear. Instead, every check-in will be a continuation of an ongoing conversation. Prepare for the conversation Look back through past conversations, metrics, goals, and feedback to ensure you have a clear, objective, and fact-based perspective on the conversation you are about to have. Ensure that what you say and how you say it is attuned to the needs of the employee you are about to speak with and how they best receive constructive criticism. Set and communicate expectations in advance Use your technology platform to communicate your meeting agenda and give employees a heads-up on the topics you will discuss. Schedule plenty of time and dedicated space for the conversation. Simply preparing employees for conversations can help to avoid a defensive posture and give them time to consider the topics on the table. Be factual, calm, direct, and clear Use your platform to articulate what you want to say in advance so that you do not become 昀氀ustered, pushed o昀昀 track, or fraught with emotion, but rather can clearly articulate in a way you can both refer to later. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 22

HAVING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS Connect as a human, 昀椀rst Use the technology platform to handle the heavy lift of documenting and laying out the problem clearly, so that in the moment, you can focus on empathy, listening, and relating to your employee on a human level. Communicate actionable solutions Tough conversations should always include corrective actions and achievable solutions so that employees can 昀椀nd their way back to meeting your expectations. Make sure you identify and communicate a course of action for employees to be successful, and help ensure they do not feel frustrated or trapped by the conversations you initiate. Encourage two-way conversations Every employee will have their own perspective on the events that precipitate your conversation. Ask them for their perspective. Give them space to share their point of view, and be understanding of the biases and psychology of memory that might a昀昀ect both their perspectives and your own. Emerge with a shared understanding of events Document and share the outcomes of the conversation, so that employees can absorb them over time, once the emotion of the moment has passed, and take ownership for what happens next. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 23

AFTER THE CONVERSATION One of the reasons we frame manager-to-employee check-ins as a ‘conversation’ is because we want to encourage you to see this as a much bigger story — one that brings together each manager-to-employee interaction into a cohesive journey. Part of that journey is in preparing for the check-in — leveraging the right tools, identifying goals, and establishing a pattern of frequent, continuous check-ins. Part of it is in the delivery — using templates and keeping your attention on the outcomes you wish to achieve. And part of it is in the follow-up. Following up will include documenting conversations, reviewing, and acting on employee input you’ve received, establishing interim check-ins and communications, setting up metrics and measurements for accountability, and ultimately, tracking goals and performance over time. Consistency in these areas will be important, so be sure you’re leveraging your performance management platform to its potential. This is where a tool such as Betterworks can help to make the di昀昀erence between a good manager and coach and a great one. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 24

AFTER THE CONVERSATION Good technology will: • Schedule and remind you of conversations you need to have with employees • Support check-ins, anytime feedback, and continuous conversations • Provide templates to help guide conversations, while providing opportunities for customization • Capture employee sentiment and ideas in advance of conversations • Support employees in o昀昀ering or asking for feedback from others in the organization Does your organization have the technology in place to support good conversations with employees, meaningful coaching, and growth? Tour the Betterworks solution: Watch a demo Schedule a detailed demo THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 25

Discover Betterworks Companies like Colgate-Palmolive, Intuit, Freddie Mac, and Udemy rely on Betterworks as their performance management infrastructure — enabling great performance through dedicated people technology. Betterworks’ best-in-class HR talent management solutions are designed to drive exceptional performance by putting employee experience at the heart of how companies align, motivate, retain, and develop their people. Unlike legacy HR technology, Betterworks is a lightweight, enterprise-ready solution that integrates with the tools employees use every day. betterworks.com © Copyright 2013-2022 Betterworks. All rights reserved. Various trademarks held by their respective owners.