How Can I Successfully Host a Coffee Chat Between Our Managing Director and Employees?

Hi, my name is Tarannum Shams, and I am the HR Manager of a Limited Company. I would like to arrange a coffee and conversation session with my Managing Director and the employees. Please provide some tips.

Regards,
Tarannum Shams

Here's how we managed a similar event at an organization where I worked. The MD was definite about keeping it very informal without any agenda and minutes being maintained.

Event Structure

We used to find 5 employees every month and arrange for the lunch/dinner. The employees were essentially in a non-reporting relationship, i.e., a manager and his team would not be scheduled together. We aimed to include diversity, so we would invite five employees from five different teams and departments.

The event would have at least one HR attending along with the five employees, who would remain a connector and help team members identify each other's strengths.

Creating an Open Environment

The MD would openly communicate, creating a very light environment, sharing incidents on how different ideas for business emerged. The floor would be open for discussion with any topic that weaves in spontaneously.

Core Aim

The core aim was to establish two-way communication, to open up and listen. It helped us build the culture we wanted to establish and bond the employees across the continuum with the top management.

If any employee wanted to share any information, discuss something related to the company, or ask any question, this was their best chance to hear it from the MD in an informal setup.

Trust this helps. You might have different aims for this initiative. Please consider sharing them; we might be able to brainstorm around it. Wish you all the best!

Dear Sunil,

(Cite Contribution) has set a good example.

While having coffee and conversation with the MD is indeed a simple and easy-to-implement initiative to kick-start employee engagement, it does have its dire consequences that contradict the very reasons why you want to implement it in the first place. (See separate post seeking advice for a poorly planned initiative to provide coffee for staff).

Please answer the following queries:

1. What are the objectives of this initiative?

2. Is this an HR-driven initiative or your MD's idea?

3. Have you obtained the "buy-in" from other staff?

4. What is the current communication and meeting culture in your company?

5. In the view of staff, is HR an "ally" of management or a "bridge" between staff and management?

For example, one reason why knowing your current communication culture is important is that if your current communication culture is "closed," "top-down," or "formal" in approach, a sudden change to "open," "two-way," or "informal" will lead staff to speculate "what's going on?" Knowing your communication culture will help you determine the best communication channels to use to achieve the desired outcome.

Hearing from you soon.

Regards,
Autumn Jane

Excellent contribution, Autumn! What can be better than working towards a goal that is identified so well that the results get quantified too. Thank you so much for the suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from Tarannum on how she would implement this and what the outcomes are post-implementation.

Considerations for Conducting Conversations with the Managing Director

The thought of conducting the conversation is a good idea, but at the same time, you need to recheck the questions that may be thrown at the MD. The following reasons may keep the MD from replying back and looking directly at you:

• Not satisfied with reporting to the BOSS.
• Not satisfied with the welfare benefits provided.
• Not satisfied with the incentives or any of the company policies.
• Not satisfied with any of the functions working very late to deliver the work.

Many more situations may lead to critical times if the employee directly throws questions that should be asked through a one-on-one meeting. Due to the employee's unawareness of what to discuss, this can be challenging.

So, plan carefully when choosing the program, and the questions should be limited to serious problems related to the organization.

It's better to establish a suggestion box or develop and initiate a Whistleblower policy to enable your MD to have direct interaction with employees.

Hope the above matter is useful to you. If I made any mistakes or mentioned points that are not related, please disregard.

Thanks & Regards,
Chandrakanth
HR

While (Cite Contribution) & Autumn Jane have given you excellent inputs to PLAN a beginning, Chandrakanth has surely pointed to the types of awkward situations that CAN arise, consequently reflecting on HR.

However, IF the suggestions given by Chandrakanth are indeed implemented, the very idea of the whole exercise being an informal one vanishes, possibly leading to some sort of unwanted or undesirable backlash.

I guess the trick would lie in 'BALANCING' the various aspects, keeping in mind the fact that this is the first time you would be having such a session. Maybe, in the first few sessions [presuming the intent is to make this a regular affair], you can focus on 'WHO' would attend the session from among the employees—if you can choose the more mature ones in the initial rounds, that would keep the discussion on an 'even keel' AND ALSO ensure the RIGHT feedback goes back to the other employees after the sessions.

In a way, you are ALSO ensuring this becomes a 'Learning' experience for all involved, with one 'fine' difference: the whole approach is CALIBRATED rather than leaving it as a 'free-for-all' right from the word 'go' OR including any sort of CONTROL in what's discussed. The selection of the participants can be made more flexible as you move along. Hope you get the point.

All the Best.

Regards,
TS

Love the word "calibrated" in your response. Exactly what I am driving at. Every single action needs to be calibrated to achieve the desired outcome—no matter how simple the plan is.

In addition to sending your matured staff first to the session, it would be even better to send those "early adopters" (early adopters are staff who understand the objectives and positively support the program) to the session so that they can share their positive experiences with the rest of the staff. This creates a positive domino or ripple effect, making everyone want to participate in the next round.

Having said that, you still need to nail down those objectives first before moving forward.

Regards,
Autumn Jane

Round Table Activity: A Unique Engagement Strategy

I am from a company where we have a monthly activity called "Round Table." During this event, the HR department selects one team member from each department to receive a surprise announcement on the day of the activity that lunch is on the house. Typically, the selected team member is taken out for lunch, and it is revealed that the General Manager has personally invited them.

The HR team takes notes during this highly interactive luncheon where a lot of ideas are freely exchanged. These notes are later shared with the Heads of Departments (HODs) for further action.

This concept is similar to the idea of "Koffee with MD." I encourage you to try it!

Regards,
Ann

Instead of meeting with the MD and sharing grievances, why can't employees share the same with HR? Let HR work out the issues first, doing his/her job at his/her level and within his/her limits.

Why can't HR analyze and collate the data and present it to the MD, seeking necessary action? This will prove that HR is a bridge between Management and Employees. HR must understand employee issues and propose appropriate solutions that fit the scenario.

An effective HRIS comes along with a Grievance Management System. Grievances must be categorized so that reports can be generated for easy interpretation. All those MDs who are employee-oriented (well-wishers) will keep track of logged grievances.

At the end of every month, it is advisable to arrange a casual meeting between employees and the MD just to make employees feel comfortable and eliminate their feeling that "an MD is maintaining his distance," which is common in many organizations.

With profound regards,

All of the above are good suggestions. The main thing that you need to be aware of is:

1. The objective of the coffee talk.
2. Who initiated it - you (the HR), the MD, or someone else in the organization.
3. Is it a formal or informal session?
4. Who is attending. You would also have to determine how many would be attending. Your headcount is not mentioned, so if it is a large number, you may need to organize multiple sessions over a period of time.
5. What do you expect as the outcome of the talk?

Think these through, and you will be okay.

All the best.

Regards,
Venkat