Employee communication is certainly aligned to culture and internal marketing but it’s not the same thing. Employee communication involves sharing information, ideas, and yes – feelings – between all company members. It can be online or offline – verbal or electronic – across mediums such as email, mobile apps or other specialised collaboration tools such as ERPs. Employee communication is absolutely vital for the health and strength of any type of organization. In fact, only through successful communication can managers lead and manage. Simply put, the more effectively an employee communication strategy is, the more successful the organization will be.
The research is clear that effective employee communication has a direct correlation to employee engagement. When employees receive the necessary information they need to do their jobs efficiently, while having the ability to offer feedback, they feel appreciated, connected and seen, both by the company, to themselves, and to each other. This empathy building process of inter connection and understanding, drives people to be more engaged and in touch with their co-workers as well as more proud and aligned with their responsibilities. It is the sympathetic interaction that builds culture – and as we know from Drucker “culture eats strategy for breakfast”.
In individuals, families, organizations and nations that communication does not flow properly between all levels of the society, it leads to misunderstandings, bottlenecks, and other issues. All of these problems create stress and disrupt harmony. Clear and transparent communication then, helps to solve challenges proactively and resolve them successfully. This supports to preserve a harmonious culture within a serene atmosphere that can allow growth. It is therefore, imperative for leaders to manage employee communication successfully as follows:
- Awareness: In order for the employee communication strategy to work, you need to be aware of what you are truly projecting as a person.
- Leadership: Managers set the tone by initiating a type of communication that can leade with unity and inspiration.
- Feedback: Since employees can tell us what is and isn’t working, a two way channel will allow unbiased learning and tweaking of the communication as required.
- Alignment: Employee productivity increases more than 25% when they feel connected to the leadership and overall company goals.
- Technology: Since the discovery of audiovisual technologies, 75% of humans prefer to watch a video rather than read text.
- Apps: Smartphones are currently the greatest communication tool ever invented and companies can utilize it in their own benefit through relevant apps.
The celebrated Fortune 500 CEO Jack Welch, used to say that there are essentially three dimensions that tell us what we need to know about an organization’s overall performance. These are, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. “No company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” Research, regarding employee communication, reveals similar findings. Being aware, can help companies pay attention to the things that matter most. Right now, the percentage of employees around the globe that feel they don’t have an understanding of their company’s strategy, due to remote work and bad communication practises, has climbed to 70%.