Every business communicates to their employees in numerous ways, but whether there is a conscious plan of communication that effectively relays the message a company wants to send to their employees, and a plan that encourages two-way communication between a company and their employees, well, that may be another matter altogether.
When evaluating the effectiveness of a company’s means of communicating to their employees, the best place to start might be to simply ask them—through focus groups, surveys, scheduling brown bag lunches with the executive management team or even by answering individual employee questions during a company meeting. All of these actions demonstrate a company’s openness and accessibility on the part of senior management. This openness and accessibility communicated to employees goes a long way in building trust and opening the lines of communication both to and from the employees.
A Personal Example
Shortly after coming on board with my company, I had an experience where I unexpectedly and unknowingly ended up sitting across the table from a senior corporate executive at the company during my first holiday lunch at my office location. After casually chatting for a few minutes and asking him all about what he did at the company, I finally realized to whom I had been talking. I was so impressed that a corporate VP would take the time to answer my questions and to listen to my impressions of the company as a brand new employee. He had exemplified what I found to be a very genuine openness and accessibility that permeates throughout the entire company. I felt fortunate to be in a company where my opinion and my ideas could be heard and my contribution mattered. Do you think that impacts how I serve my clients? You Bet!
What about Your Employees?
Do your employees feel comfortable that they are “in the know” with what is going on in their company? Do they feel that what they think matters? Do they feel comfortable to ask you the hard questions or to voice what might not be the kind of news you want to hear? Are the communication lines open in both directions? Do they see you circling back and closing the loop?
Once you open the lines of communication and build that trust with your employees, remember that your employees will watch to see what you do with that information. Remember to “close the loop” with your employees. If the company asks employees for feedback, but then they either don’t act on it or they don’t circle back and provide employees with any results or verification that the company even heard what the employees had to say, the lines of communication may soon dry up. Employees need to see management researching the areas where communication is lacking and then bringing the results back to them.
Employees can provide some really valuable feedback to help the business grow, and allowing employees to provide feedback makes them feel more a part of what’s going on. It makes them feel like they are being valued by being able to make a contribution.
During these difficult economic times, many employers are searching for ways to show their employees how much they value them. Often budgets don’t allow for the conventional means of showing employee appreciation through bonuses and special events. However, making an employee feel that they are making a difference, and that what they say and feel matters to the company by means of an effective two-way employee communication plan, can make a huge difference in the overall success of a company and the satisfaction of the employee. You know what I call that…WIN-WIN!!