Employees are a company’s most valuable
assets, so it makes sense to invest in the corporate culture that helps them
succeed. While vacation days and fringe benefits (health insurance, stock
options, employee discounts etc) are appealing lures, the heart of the employee
experience occurs during business hours, as staff members interact with each
other.
Good
communication is square one for employers seeking to reinforce relationships
with workers and it creeps in to every aspect of business operations. In many
cases, communication mechanisms fall short on the job, leaving room for most
companies to improve their standards and reduce the communication gap with
employees.
Credibility and Communication
Credibility is an important area to focus on when it
comes to influencing effective communication between employees and their
superiors. When executed correctly, communication with workers reinforces
trustworthiness for managers and other high-level employees. But if there is a
deep communication gap between bosses and staff members, it can ultimately
undermine productivity and employee engagement.
At
its core, communication with employees is just sharing information, but it is
also layered with influencing how employees perform. For effective
communication from bosses to employees, here are the three essential principles
to follow:
Honesty – Nothing erodes employee confidence faster than
dishonest communication (as mentioned above). While some information is clearly
reserved for higher-level access, sharing honest discourse with employees goes
a long way to reinforce credibility.
Respect – Work hierarchies can be alienating to lower-level employees, who can easily feel
less valuable to the workplace than their bosses. Respectful communication,
both written and verbal, helps bridge the communication gap felt across varying
departments. An effective strategy for reinforcing each employee’s value to the
company includes proactive communication from upper-level bosses, directly to
line-level employees.
Trust – For security purposes, certain information simply can’t
be shared with the entire workforce. However, trust reinforces employees’ perceived value to the company, so
whatever can be done to include them in the big picture helps foster job
satisfaction and better performance among staff.
Instructive Communication
Some of the most important ideas shared with employees
relate to job functions and employer expectations. Without clearly articulated
instructions, employees wind up improvising and this can lead to being much
less productive. Even job turnover rates are higher when communications fail,
frustrating staffers without well-defined job descriptions and mission
statements in place.
To bridge the communication gap at work, be candid with
employees, encouraging them to ask specific questions about their job roles.
Successful managers communicate with staffers in groups, but also facilitate
one-on-one contact with each employee they supervise.
Just as important as formal, instructive communication,
effective approaches also include informal contact with employees. Reaching out
to staffers when you don’t necessarily need something specific fortifies their
engagement when you do call upon them to act on a particular need. Casually asking how a project is
going, for example, shows employees you are all in it together. And even
occasional small-talk keeps lines of communication
open between employees and higher-ups.
Two-Way Street
Too often, employers focus on top-down communication,
carefully crafting mechanisms for disseminating information from managers to
employees. But successful communication is a two-way exchange.
Effective communication also provides channels for
employee feedback, encouraging them to share ideas and suggestions for
increasing productivity within the company. And it isn’t enough to simply
request feedback – acting on employee suggestions keeps them engaged and eager
to provide further input as well as being able to find ways to reward employees
with their own ideas.
Reducing the communication gap at work starts with honest
discourse; furnishing two-way mechanisms for staffers and bosses to share ideas.
#rahulinvision
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