The best way to improve communication between management and staff may be this: stop the information overload. It can cut costs and improve staff morale.
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An undiagnosed communications cancer was destroying morale and confidence in management among the staff members at a US- headquartered, global IT company early in 2001. Managers at the company, which has 10,000 staff worldwide, thought that their million dollar(US) budget for internal communications was getting the message across. But there was a problem: staff were getting the wrong message.
A two-year research project by International Survey Research (ISR) discovered that the IT company’s internal communications program was provoking cynicism, misunderstanding and even disbelief among staff. The company operates in a market that has been in upheaval since the tech wreck began in 2000.
ISR found that staff were being flooded with information that they did not have time to read. Worse still, the “news” sent to employees did not deal with the issues of most concern to them. Employees also had no easy way of raising their problems or of getting direct and meaningful answers from management. A small but significant number of staff questioned by ISR said that they “often did not believe” what they were being told by management.
The study of the company’s employees found substantial underperformance compared with a database of industry norms that is maintained by ISR:
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Key learning points:
- Speak first - Written internal communications may be less effective than face-to-face meetings with staff.
- Misunderstood messages - Employees may not have the time or interest to read internal communications documents, but they will listen in face-to-face meetings. Misunderstandings can be cleared up immediately.
- Staff morale - When employees do not understand corporate strategy, confidence in management can decline and work-group morale can be sapped.
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- Business strategy. Many employees did not believe that their management had a well-formulated strategy. Compared with ISR’s database, there was a significant 30-point underperformance.
- Information value. The lack of confidence in management was mirrored by the high number of staff who felt that the company did not keep them well informed about matters affecting them. Dissatisfaction among employees was 14 points worse than the industry average.
- Overall, the company had a communications index score of 52%, based on eight indicators judged by company employees as important measures of satisfaction with internal communications. The company barely scored a pass mark when rated by its staff.
Unless staff have real and valid reasons for doubting management – and at some companies they do – such white-ant attitudes can sap morale and damage work-group effectiveness. A company’s ability to attract or retain key staff can be dangerously impaired.
Repair and restore
What to do? A five-point plan was developed at the IT company to cut out communications that added no value and to introduce new ways of communicating with staff.
Instead of circulating written materials, face-to-face meetings were regularly scheduled. The aim was to draw staff together, to put faces and voices on senior management titles, and to provide forums for honest and open talk about issues of concern. At the employee-supervisor level, quarterly one-to-one meetings were instituted. The aim was to encourage direct and open discussion: supervisors now directly answer employees’ questions, deal with workplace concerns and play a coaching role.
Fortnightly meetings of teams were scheduled to re-inforce strategic and tactical objectives and to foster teamwork. Monthly informal meetings between senior managers and mixed samples of employees were instituted: these were designed to share information, encourage open communications and increase trust in management.
Each quarter, divisional meetings are now held to keep the objectives of each department in line with the corporate strategy and to keep employees informed about matters affecting them. And each quarter, the chief executive officer also talks directly to staff – via live audio or video – about company strategy and performance. Employees can see who leads them.
And the result? ISR’s follow-up surveys show that the new face-to-face strategy has worked. In the year since it was introduced, the IT company has increased its communication index score by 13.5%, from 52% to 65.5%. By eliminating unnecessary forms of communication such as newsletters, US$200,000 was cut from administration expenses. Belief among employees that senior management had a well-founded business strategy has increased from 54% to 77%.
This IT company is committed to fixing a problem with its key asset: its staff and their intellectual capital. Unfortunately, many companies have undiagnosed problems in their staff communications. In a tough business environment, the first step must be to get - and keep - the staff on side. And that means sending them the right message.
Contact: Gabby Ostrognay, International Survey Research, Melbourne. Tel: (03) 9820 9388