Good communication is square one for employers seeking to reinforce relationships with workers. Believe it or not, this creeps into every aspect of business operations. In many cases, improving this falls short on the to-do list. This leaves plenty of room for companies to reduce their communication gap with employees.
More often than not, employees are a company’s most valuable assets. So, it only makes sense to invest in the corporate culture that helps them succeed. While vacation days and benefits like health insurance and stock options are appealing, the heart of the employee experience occurs during business hours, as staff members interact with each other. Here’s how to lessen the communication gap at work.
Credibility and Communication
Credibility is an important area to focus on when lessening the communication gap between employees and their superiors. When done right, communication with team members increases trustworthiness for managers and other high-level employees. But, if there’s a deep communication gap between bosses and staff members, it can lessen productivity and employee engagement.
At its core, communication with employees is just sharing information, but it is also layered with influencing how employees perform. For effective communication from bosses to employees, here are the three essential principles to follow:
Honesty
Nothing erodes employee confidence faster than dishonest discussions with team members (as mentioned above). While some information is clearly reserved for higher-level access, sharing honest discourse with employees goes a long way.
Respect
Work hierarchies can often make lower level team members feel less valuable at work. Respectful discussions, both written and verbal, helps bridge the communication gap felt across varying departments. Use the proactive discourse strategy to increase employee value. This strategy encourages communication from team members of all levels.
Trust
For security purposes, some information simply can’t be shared with the whole team. However, the more you trust employees, the more they feel valued at the company. So, whatever can be done to include them in the big picture, will increase their job satisfaction and performance.
Instructive Communication
Some of the most important ideas shared with employees relate to job functions and employer expectations. Without clearly articulated instructions, employees wind up improvising and this can lead to being much less productive. Even job turnover rates are higher when communications fail, frustrating staffers without well-defined job descriptions and mission statements in place.
To bridge the communication gap at work, be candid with employees. Encourage them to ask specific questions about their job roles. Successful managers communicate with staffers in groups, but also facilitate one-on-one contact with each employee they supervise.
Just as important as formal, instructive communication, effective approaches also include informal contact with employees. Try reaching out to staffers when you don’t need anything. For example, casually asking how a project is going, shows your team that you are all in it together. And even small-talk keeps lines of communication open between employees and higher-ups.
Two-Way Street
Too often, employers focus on communicating top-down. But successful verbal exchanges is a two-way exchange.
Effective discussions also provides channels for employee feedback. This encourages them to share ideas and suggestions for increasing productivity within the company. And it isn’t enough to simply request feedback. You need to act on employee suggestions. This will keep them engaged and eager to give you more input.
Reducing the communication gap at work starts with honest discourse; furnishing two-way system for staffers and bosses to share ideas.
Author Bio:
This is a guest post by Sarah Brooks from Freepeoplesearch.org. She is a Houston based freelance writer and blogger. Questions and comments can be sent to brooks.sarah23@gmail.com.