Kerry, These are all good steps toward creating a culture of engagement. Honesty and openness are hallmarks of good employer-employee relations and frequent performance assessments go a long way, if they occur regularly, i.e. quarterly. Don't hold off until there is an annual review in the fourth quarter, remember there should be no surprises during performance reviews; that will reinforce your culture of openness and honesty. "Open door" management is a bit of a misnomer and it puts the responsibility for communications on the employee, "management by walking around", or MBWA, engages your employees on their "turf" and encourages dialogue in a non-threatening environment and typically catches issues early-on. Dr. Robert Roehrich