Here are some scary statistics from a recent survey by IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) and Right Management Associates:
- nearly half (48%) of 472 organizations surveyed acknowledged that their management failed to effectively communicate to employees the purpose of their jobs and their business mission and strategy
- only 37% of those surveyed said their employees are effectively aligned with their organization’s mission and vision.
Talk about a disconnect!
Internal Marketing Fundamental
Effective communication is one of the basic precepts of internal marketing – to engage employees, an organization needs to communicate (at a minimum):
- what the organization stands for (i.e., its mission, vision & values)
- what its goals & objectives are (strategy), and
- what is expected of employees in helping achieve the mission & strategy (where they fit in “the big picture”).
How can employees effectively help their organizations move forward if they don’t know where it’s going or what is expected of them?!
Consider this
I’ll avoid going off the deep end here (no wringing of hands or gnashing of teeth). And I won’t waste time pondering the many reasons why this happens in organizations.
My question, dear readers, is this: where would your organization find itself in this survey? And if you think you’d be in the company of the 48% above, what will you do to improve your situation?
One reply on “Companies Fail to Engage, Connect with Employees”
I grew up in Fortune 500 companies and now work for smaller Fortune 2000 companies. This problem exists in both the large and the small.
The problem is independent of the company’s size. The problem is this: many leaders think they are great communicators when, in reality, they are not.
The Tom Peters company did a survey and found that a vast majority of leaders thought they were terrific communicators. When they asked their employees, however, they received very low marks.
Picture this…A senior executive walks into a meeting and begins talking. He makes a point and then makes eye contact and sees a lot of nodding heads. He says, “great” and leaves. The employees look at each other and say, “what was he talking about?”. The executive walks out of the meeting thinking 1. everyone understood what he said, 2. everyone bought in to what he said and 3. everyone cared about what he said.
Obviously, none of the 3 above are accurate. The executive continues forward thinking what a great communicator he is. The employees shrug and go about their business.
This scene is played out over and over throughout corporations every day large and small. Leaders need to understand their speaking followed by heads nodding does not equal communication. Leaders cannot assume that employees understand, agree, buy-in and care just because they nod their heads and are silent.