How Do You Talk to Your Employer?

Last week, Monster employees from all over the globe finished completing an employee survey, touted as a way to help shape corporate culture. At last count, more than 80 percent of worldwide workers had filled out the survey, a pretty impressive number. We’ll see the results in a month or two, and I for one am anxious to see what my coworkers think of working here.

Monster isn’t the only company taking the pulse of its employees this way. According to one statistic, 70 percent of all US employers regularly conduct employee surveys. These are usually sweeping questionnaires that can cover everything from communication (a common sore spot, according to this article) to choices in the cafeteria. As an employee, filling out the survey honestly is your chance to address what’s going right and wrong.

But what if you work for a company that doesn’t conduct regular surveys? Or even if it does, you may need to talk to your employer about something now, not in six months when the new survey comes out. How do you get your voice heard? Here are some common communication channels and how to make the most of them:

• Regular Meetings with Your Supervisor: Here at Monster, many employees have weekly or biweekly one-on-one meetings with their bosses. These are scheduled opportunities to check in and raise issues of importance.
  


• Company Meetings: Bryan thinks they are a waste of time. If you don't participate, they definitely can be. Make sure you take advantage of any Q&A sessions offered to bring up the important stuff.
  


• Performance Reviews: Like employee surveys, your performance review can be highly ritualistic. Go beyond the yearly obligation to give your boss upward feedback, both on how he supervises you and the company’s direction and policies as a whole.
  


• Exit Interviews: Hopefully, you’ll use other communication channels before this one, but sometimes, on the way out the door is the only chance a worker has to let the powers that be know something’s wrong.

So how do you talk to your employer? Let us know in the comments below. And in the meantime, check out our articles on how to build your own communication skills.

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