Good workplaces are built through good communication, and whether your communication is functioning well or not directly impacts your bottom line. Hear us out: when leaders are communicating well with their internal audiences (i.e., your employees, managers, etc.) it builds a healthy workplace culture. Productivity, workplace well-being, and retention rates are all directly impacted by how leaders relate to and communicate with their employees. When these areas suffer it directly impacts the company’s bottom line by introducing costs relating to recruiting, onboarding, and training staff. Consider introducing wellness and other initiatives to improve employee health, engagement, and morale – positively impacting your bottom line through retention, increased productivity, and fewer sick days, for example.
Successful leaders communicate in ways that build healthy teams that grow community and work well to support the business’s goals.
They Know Their Channels
Successful leaders communicate through channels that work best for their employees, not themselves. Did you know that at some companies, employees receive between 40-150 emails a day? If leaders only communicate via email, their messages may get lost because no one is reading them or because written messages leave much up for misinterpretation. So, if a message is important, it may be best to communicate it in person to ensure employees feel valued and the message is trusted. In-person communication, like team meetings, town halls, and one-to-one meetings, also allows employees to ask questions in real-time, again, increasing the trust and value index.
They Communicate Value
Successful leaders ensure their employees feel valued. This means that their communications are transparent, in that they provide as much information as possible or information as to why information cannot be shared, and make people feel included. They also leave employees feeling that the work they are doing means something to the people they are doing it for.
They Build Trust
No matter what communication strategies are put in place, if a leader is not trusted, no communication will be effective. Leaders can get an idea of their trust index by using surveys that measure trust like the Guarding Minds at Work survey; however, this may be impacted in a larger sense by their sector, and it is important for leaders to know where they are starting from. The Edelman Trust Barometer is a yearly report that measures industry trust and having an idea of where you stand lets you know where you are communicating from. Building trust doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a concerted effort from leadership and happens over time, through thoughtful communication strategies.
If you are unsure of how your internal communications are functioning or if you are looking for support to build communications strategies that support a healthy workplace culture, LIHR is here to help! Reach out to us to learn more.
From the LIHR team and lead collaborator, Marika Sylvain, Communications Specialist & HR Projects at Lisa Isaac HR Professional Services Marika@LisaIsaacHR.com
Lisa Isaac HR Professional Services