A little more conversation

90% of employees who are kept fully informed are motivated to deliver added value whereas when employees are not kept in the loop 80% of them are not motivated to deliver added value.  These statistics paint a very clear picture about the importance of communication with employees.  According to Enterprise North East Trust (Enterprise) businesses need to recognise the importance of communication and act on it to ensure that they reap the business benefits.

Joyce Duncan, director of operations, of Enterprise comments, “Communicating effectively with employees is misjudged by many employers.  They will either not give the employees enough information or they will open the flood gates and bombard them.  The important thing is to get the balance right, generally employees want to know what the company aims are, how the company plans to achieve them and most importantly for them what their role is and how they will benefit.  Getting this right will have a positive impact on the business bottom line as when staff understand what the business aims to achieve and the part that they have to play in achieving the corporate goals they are more likely to be motivated and therefore increasingly productive.”

Effective communication with employees also impacts on staff retention figures; a concern for employers in today’s competitive marketplace.  60% of employees who feel that they are not kept informed by their employers are likely to change their employer within two years.

“It stands to reason that if employers do not engage with, and communicate with, their employees then the employees will not feel valued and will be increasingly likely to be unsatisfied at work; this will in all probability contribute to them deciding to look for a new position elsewhere,” says Joyce.   “Generally, employees want to know that they are making a difference, that what they are doing is contributing to the success of the business.”

Joyce has this advice on employee communication for businesses:

• What?

Employees want to know what the business is trying to achieve.  They also want to understand their role in achieving those goals.  “Communicating with employees and ensuring that they understand their role in achieving the corporate goals should be intrinsic to the corporate strategy.  This will help to ensure that the employees are both engaged and focussed on achieving business success,” says Joyce.

• How?

Whilst it is important to communicate with employees Joyce points out that it is vital not to bombard them with information.  “Remember that your employees have a job to do, don’t overload them with too much information in one go.  It is important to send them information in manageable chunks and accessible formats.  This includes making sure that you don’t use too much jargon or ‘management speak’, the language used should be to the point and easy to understand.”

Joyce adds, “It is also worth taking time to consider the best way to communicate information to your employees.  Some information, such as corporate policies and processes could be stored on the company intranet whereas general company news can be presented in an email or newsletter.  However details pertaining to major changes in the company such as a restructuring would be best communicated face to face as this will allow any questions to be answered and will also ensure that, as far as possible, all employees receive the same information at the same time.”

• When?

It is important that employers communicate with their employees on an ongoing basis not just during times of change or trouble. 

Joyce comments, “Employers should ensure that they communicate with their employees on a regular basis.  In order to ensure that employees realise that their input is valued they should also be included in any consultation process.  This will result in employees feeling both involved and that their input is important to the company and should therefore result in increased levels of motivation.”

Joyce adds that employers should remember that communication is a two way process.  “As well as ensuring that information is passed on to their staff they also need to remember to obtain feedback and listen to their employees.  Only by fostering ongoing communication with employees will employers reap the business benefits.”

Ends

Picture Caption:  Joyce Duncan, director of operations of Enterprise North East Trusts says that businesses need to recognise the importance of communication and act on it to ensure that they reap the business benefits.

For further information contact:
Lyndsay Aitken
Tricker PR
9 Victoria Street
Aberdeen
Telephone  01224 646491
Direct Line 01224 654086
Mobile  07780 680751
Email  laitken@trickerpr.com

Note to editors:

1 Statistics taken from ‘A Little More Conversation’ – A CHA report, Autumn 2005