The topic of the meeting, its type, venue, type of meeting, and degree of formality
Meeting topic: “Motivating and Encouraging Newly-Hired Employees.” The meeting will be held in a conference room as one of the series of meetings aimed at employee retention within the company. It is expected to be a problem-solving meeting where the participants will discuss strategies that can be utilized to increase retention among new employees through motivation and encouragement. As for the degree of formality, the meeting will be neutral or informal. Its major purpose is to find suitable solutions that can be more effectively found in an informal discussion.
The purpose of the meeting
The purpose of the meeting is to discover the existing gaps in company employment policies that can have a negative impact on employee retention and discuss the possible strategies of motivation and encouragement that can positively influence newly-hired employees. The focus is on selecting approaches that can stimulate new talented professionals to continue their work for the company.
Legal and ethical issues that need to be considered
There are no specific legal issues related to this meeting due to its informal character. Still, some ethical considerations are necessary. First of all, participation is voluntary, and no one can be forced to attend it. Secondly, no discussions of individuals or their personal data will be provided. It is important to understand that every invited employee can attend the meeting, but in case they miss it, no work-related consequences will follow.
The meeting requirements
The location for the meeting is a conference room since it is a comfortable venue with equipment for making a presentation. This place is familiar for all the participants, and they will not waste time looking for an unknown location. The meeting starts at 2 p.m. and is expected to last for two hours. The time period after lunch but some hours before the end of a working day is selected to provide less interference with daily routines and, in case the discussion lasts longer than expected, not to hold the participants longer than their work time. Thirty individuals, including representatives of HR service, heads of departments, and leading managers, will be invited to the meeting, and the expected number of people present is about 25.
This number of participants can result in a productive discussion, and the inclusion of representatives of diverse departments provides consideration of all the existing problems. As for refreshments, water will be available during the meeting, and a break for tea or coffee with cookies is planned after the presentation part before discussions start. Refreshments are common for all types of meetings, and a coffee break is important during a normal or informal meeting because it can stimulate further discussion.
Timing issues the need to be considered
It is necessary to consider such timing issues as the time limit for representing an idea to allow all the participants to express their suggestions or contradictions. In case one speaker talks for too long, the other participants can become bored or lose track of the discussion.
Special requirements that need to be accommodated
The following requirements should be accommodated:
- check the number of chairs and tables in the conference room
- ensure that the equipment is functioning
- deliver refreshments a day before the meeting
- provide stationery for notes
Advising the participants of the meeting
The participants will be informed both by email and by telephone. The first email invitation will be sent two weeks before the meeting. Two days after notifications, the expected participants will receive a phone call to check if the message was delivered and to confirm their participation. A day before the date of the meeting, the participants will receive an email reminder about the time and place of the event. Invitation notification looks as follows:
Dear Mr. / Mrs. Smith,
We are happy to invite you to a meeting dedicated to the issues of motivation and encouragement among new employees in our company. We believe that talented and highly professional staff is the greatest asset of our organization, and we want to contribute to the development of new retention strategies that allow maintaining newly-hired individuals in their workplaces. We will appreciate it if you have ideas to share or just want to enter the discussion.
The meeting will take place in a central conference room, on the third floor. You are welcome to join the team on November 14, 2018, at 2 p.m.
We are looking forward to fruitful cooperation.
Acknowledgments to be collected
The acknowledgments will be collected during a phone call and personal communication with every invited individual. Future participants are welcome to ask questions about the format of the meeting and the agenda that will be sent later.
Documentation to be read before the meeting
Documentation required for the meeting includes the agenda and some materials to understand the problem and the possible solutions. The handouts will be both printed as sent as files by email. The participants will receive results of the anonymous survey about motivation and encouragement they have and want to have conducted among the employees who work for the company for less than one year. Another document they are sent is the Forbes article about motivation. Finally, the agenda for the meeting is as follows:
Meeting Agenda
Location: Central conference roof (third floor)
Date: November 14, 2018
Time: 2 p.m.
Agenda details:
- Introduction: 2 – 2.15 p.m.
- Presentation: 2.15 – 2.35 p.m.
- Questions & answers: 2.35 – 2.55 p.m.
- Coffee break: 2.55 – 3.15 p.m.
- Discussion: 3.15 – 4 p.m.
Distributing the documentation to be read before the meeting
Documentation for the meeting is sent to the participants by email and delivered in a printed version at least a week before the meeting to allow them to study the materials and prepare for the discussion. An identical set of documents will be prepared and distributed during the meeting. The participants are welcome to add discussion ideas before the meeting. In case they are active in their suggestions, an additional document will be formed and distributed among the invited individuals a day or two prior to the meeting.
Producing the meeting minutes
The minutes from the previous meeting are not available because it is the first meeting of this type in the company that is expected to be followed by similar meetings aimed at resolving the problem of motivation and encouragement in the company.
Checking the meeting minutes
The minutes are checked and proofread by the meeting facilitator and the secretary.
Distributing the meeting minutes
Copies of the minutes are sent to all the stakeholders both by email and as a printed document.
Ensuring the documentation and consultation processes are culturally appropriate
Both documentation and consultation processes should be culturally appropriate. It means that both processes are expected to acknowledge the possible impact of the cultural backgrounds of the participants and thus be culturally neutral. The preference is given to the culture of the country where the company is functioning. In case meeting participants speak languages other than the language of the meeting, it is necessary to provide a translation of the documents as well as an interpreter for the meeting. Presentation and discussion issues should be culturally neutral and held in a clear and concise manner. Finally, speakers should be aware of the importance of non-verbal communication aspects such as gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc., which frequently determine the perception of the discussion message.
Oral report
The meeting hold on November 14, 2018, became the first one in the series of meetings aimed at reconstruction retention policies of the company. The particular focus of the meeting was to discuss strategies used for motivating and encouraging newly-hired employees to preserve their talent and knowledge as an investment in the company’s development. Twenty-six individuals joined the meeting. The presentation outlined the existing problem of the lack of effective approaches to motivation and encouragement in the company. The head of the HR department shared the problems that the company faces in hiring and retaining new well-trained professionals.
The speakers suggested some strategies that have the potential to increase motivation and thus stimulate employee retention. These strategies include empowerment of employees with consideration of their individual features, acknowledgment of professional achievements, adoption of transparent promotion approaches and clearly set opportunities for career development, and development of effective leadership as a factor of strong motivation and increased retention.
The decisions of the meeting are as follows. First of all, the participants decided to create a working group that will be involved in the development of the Retention policy statement. The group is expected to construct a draft of the Retention policy statement prior to the next meeting and present it to senior management of the company for discussion and feedback. Finally, the meeting participants decided to analyze the strategies for motivation and encouragement suggested for inclusion into the retention policy during the following meeting.