More Communication Please

How many times do we need to hear employees say they want more, and more effective, communication? A Washington Post article describes a recent TSA employee survey that once again confirms what we know about human resources communication – it is often lacking:

When asked about “organizational communication,” only 35 percent agreed that essential policies were clearly communicated and that employees were kept well-informed of issues affecting their jobs.

Only 21 percent said the TSA took steps to protect job security and communicated effectively on policy changes and reorganizations that affect the workforce.

The good news in the TSA’s 2006 Organizational Satisfaction Survey is that employees are more satisifed than they were in 2004, the time of the last survey. (I don’t know what the threshhold was, so it could have been low and this is just a dead cat bounce.) Happy is good – effective would be better.

Best Practices in Employee Communication: A Study of Global Challenges and Approaches, by IABC revealed that “48 percent of 472 organizations surveyed worldwide said their management has not effectively communicated their business strategies to employees and engaged them in living it in their daily jobs.” Half. And the downside, according the report, is that employee alignment with company goals is often skewed.

Strange, isn’t it, that employers end up doing a fairly weak job of communicating with their employees? Ironic, even, considering that communication skills, teamwork skills, and interpersonal skills are the mostly highly rated attributes that employers look for in job candidates. If they came in as good communicators, what did you do to them?

About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

Share this post