3 questions to ask your most valuable employee

1. How Is Our Culture Getting In The Way Of Our Success? 

In my new workshop, 'Creating a Culture of Trust in Your Company,' we address the out-sized role of culture: the ease of settling on a culture, and the difficulty of changing your culture. Engagement is fundamentally a factor in an individual's ability to be successful at work. I guarantee your culture and "the way you do things" are getting in the way of people being successful in a variety of ways.

2. What Would Make You Listen To A Pitch From A Recruiter? 

You might not be able to meet each employee's every need, but information is power. You just might learn something you have the ability to address in the current job. I like to ask this question as part of a larger "development and retention" conversation, especially with high potentials the organization really wants to retain. The more valuable the employee, the more important it is to let him/her know that as they are thinking about their career future, you want to be sure this organization is a big part of it.

3. How Do You Want To Contribute? 

Leaders often miss opportunities to help employees unmask their full potential. While each individual was hired for a specific skill-set, most have additional skills and talents waiting to be harvested. Employees who are allowed to explore the full scope of their interests and abilities experience higher job satisfaction, increased engagement and greater productivity.