I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you must give your employees feedback on a regular and consistent basis.

This point is important now more than ever. Working from home, and now the potential hybrid mix of working from home and the office, makes feedback imperative. Employees have less contact with their managers and their peers than ever before and they can very easily get off track. Providing frequent and clear feedback stops that.

The single most important part of your role is to help others grow.

And that can only be done through consistent, candid, and caring feedback. But you can’t just tell people something one time and expect them to nail it. We are all human. Things fall through the cracks or we revert back to old habits. You have to keep pointing to and emphasizing the results you need and the changes you want to see. A lot of people will not really hear you until you’ve said it at least 7 times (some research even says as many as 30 times).

Plus, providing consistent feedback isn’t just about performance improvement. It also gives your employee a defined time that they know they’ll have your attention. They will be able to use that time to ask questions, gain clarity and update you on their progress. Because they know they have this dedicated time, they won’t need to grab you at all hours of the day to run little things by you, they can save them up for your weekly (yes weekly!) one-on-one.

Not to mention that this consistent, quality face-to-face time is the best way to build a relationship. And the better you get to know each of your employees and their strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and dreams, the easier your job as a manager becomes.

Make sure you’re making the time to give each employee the feedback they need and deserve. Not only will you get better results for your company, but you’ll help your employees be their best selves.