Does your company practice effective communication with employees?
The phenomenon of internal misunderstanding is unfortunately not uncommon in companies. The problem is that crossing wires can affect virtually every aspect of your organization. If you are not clear with your employees about company affairs, policies, general expectations and goals, it will have a direct impact on your company’s productivity and profit margins. Employee engagement is also strongly linked to effective communication. In this article, we’ll highlight 8 signs that your communication with employees is falling short and tips on how to re-open the lines.
8 tips that your communication with employees is not working
1. Low employee engagement
Without knowing the goals and expectations of the company, employees do not know what they are working for and why. They feel unmotivated to complete tasks or don’t give it their all. They rarely receive feedback, so they continue to fail or are criticized, which worsens the situation by damaging their self-esteem. So if you notice that your employees are falling behind in their work or not participating in meetings and other activities, it may be a sign that you need to be more direct in your communication. You can start involving them more in company affairs and have a clearer idea of ​​what you expect from them and vice versa.
2. Different priorities
Modern ace multitasking workplace. Many teams can take on multiple projects at once, so they have to prioritize things. However, ineffective employee communication can backfire. If you can’t share your priorities effectively, team members can focus on different tasks that don’t serve a common goal. Everyone should be on the same page when it comes to achieving goals and how they fit into the grand scheme of things.
3. Missed deadlines
It is somewhat common for individual employees to miss deadlines and this may be due to poor time management skills. However, if entire teams are unable to meet due dates, poor communication may be to blame. Do they know about project milestones? Is there a problem with some team members delaying progress as others wait for their results? You can solve this by using project management software so that everyone knows the deadlines and can track their individual tasks.
4. Rework
A strong sign of poor employee communication is overworked employees. When your employees are doing their own work without clear goals and concepts, they may not know when to stop or what to change. This can lead to duplication of work or overdoing certain tasks instead of achieving balance. People will also step into the roles or responsibilities of others because they don’t know where the lines are. One of the best ways to avoid this is to be fully transparent about what their job entails and how they contribute to the company, as well as how much time they should allocate to each task.
5. Workplace conflicts
Have you noticed a lot of workplace drama going on lately? Find out if you are effectively communicating company culture and policies. Employees who don’t align with your vision or values ​​often seem to cross the line because they know there will be no consequences. However, if you are upfront about policies and cultural values ​​and highlight what is not tolerated in the workplace, people will follow you. Ineffective communication from management leads to ineffective communication between employees. Consider implementing a compliance training program that will clarify company policies and security protocols. You can also provide interpersonal skills classes to prevent workplace conflict.
6. Dissatisfied customers
Poor communication and reduced productivity will result in customer complaints. When your projects and general work is below average, it’s only natural that your customers will notice. The root cause may be that your internal communication problems are now affecting the performance of your employees. Keep in mind that communication goes both ways. Get feedback from your team to identify areas where the organization can improve. This not only helps you support your business strategy, but also empowers employees because they know they have a voice.
7. Employee turnover
Organizations cannot expect their employees to remain in a confusing work environment where conflicts abound and management is not straightforward with them. If you’re losing too many people, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone has better job offers. Improve your communication practices and try to be there to listen to their concerns and problems. If you want to avoid a mass corporate exodus, you need to be available to them at all times.
8. Uninspiring management
Everything starts from the top. Are your managers doing their best to retain team members? Are they clear about their expectations? If not, you need to fix how you communicate with them, as they often form the bridge between owners/CEOs and employees. If you can’t advise and lead them effectively, you can’t expect them to do the same with their teams.
Conclusion
One of the biggest problems a company can have is ineffective employee communication. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to lead your organization to success; nothing will work unless you are upfront with your employees and give them an opportunity to offer their input. It is essential that your people are on board with the company’s goals, values, policies and expectations. Fortunately, modern technology can help you streamline employee communication and improve team collaboration.
You can also check out our list of the best content providers for team building training to find an outsourcing partner that can help you build stronger bonds among your remote workforce and bridge communication gaps.
