Meaningful One-to-Ones

To read the full O.C. Tanner article, please click here.

What if your best leadership tool only took 30 minutes… and you’re skipping it?

We’ve all been there: the one-to-one that gets postponed again. Or worse, held, but rushed, stiff, and focused only on project updates. For many employees, these meetings feel like a box-ticking exercise. But for the companies that get them right, they’re a quiet revolution.

This article dives into the untapped power of meaningful one-to-ones, not as formal reviews or status check-ins, but as co-created conversations where people feel seen, heard, and supported. When leaders truly show up, something shifts. Employees speak more openly. Trust grows. Ideas surface. Burnout drops. Engagement rises.

The Problem with Traditional Approaches

For years, one-to-one meetings have been treated like an obligation, squeezed between emails and deadlines, often cancelled, and rarely co-created. Too often, they resemble status updates more than meaningful conversations. Leaders think they’re doing their job by “checking in.” Employees often leave these meetings feeling unheard, uninspired, or worse, micromanaged.

The Shift: Turning One-to-Ones into Moments that Matter

The real power of one-to-ones comes when they are reframed, not as a duty, but as a space for trust, development and connection.

So how do you make that shift?

According to research and experience from leaders like Ben Horowitz, Andy Grove, and Ed Catmull, the best one-to-ones follow these principles:

• Meet regularly: Bi-weekly or weekly meetings generate the biggest impact.

• Keep it relaxed: Forget the formality. Your presence and attention matter more than a perfect agenda.

• Co-create: Let both voices shape the conversation. The best one-to-ones shoudl feel like a dialogue.

• Cover the essentials:

  • Constructive feedback

  • Recognition and appreciation

  • Brainstorming space for new ideas and approaches

  • Career development discussions

• Prepare intentionally: When both leader and employee come ready, with ideas, questions, or reflections, the meeting becomes a meaningful act of leadership, not just a recurring calendar event.

Instead of “What are you working on?”, the best leaders ask:

“What’s on your mind?

“What’s getting in your way?”

“How can I support you?”

When structured around feedback, recognition, brainstorming, and growth opportunities, they become powerful tools for motivation and retention.

The Impact (Backed by Data)

The data tells a powerful story:

• Employees who have meaningful one-to-ones are 4x more likely to feel a strong sense of leadership.

• The odds of being highly engaged rise by 430%.

• Burnout drops by up to 58% when these conversations happen regularly.

Even CEOs who spend more time in one-to-ones (rather than in external meetings) see a measurable boost in company performance. These aren’t soft, fluffy perks. They’re performance levers.

The Bottom Line

One-to-ones aren’t new. But doing them right is rare, and radically effective.

They’re not just for giving feedback or talking KPIs. They’re for listening. For mentoring. For reminding people they matter. A good one-to-one won’t fix everything overnight, but it can change how someone feels walking into work tomorrow.

And that might be the most powerful thing a leader can offer.

To read the full O.C. Tanner article, please click here.

Source : O.C. Tanner. (2020). One‑to‑Ones. In 2020 Global Culture Report. O.C. Tanner Institute. Retrieved from https://www.octanner.com/en-gb/global-culture-report/2020-one-to-ones