Why does communication with employees matter

Training of domestic and international employees in effective communication avoids cultural confusion. Companies that prepare workers to excel with verbal and nonverbal communications skills find it easier to enter into global marketplaces, than companies that do not prepare their employees.

Effective workplace communication helps employees form highly efficient teams. Unhealthy competition between departments decrease, ensuring that employees work together harmoniously. Teams that work together report higher productivity, responsibility, and integrity. When everyone in the organization knows his or her role, they feel valued. Employee morale is highest when communication happens authentically and effectively.

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My email address is Email must be valid. Enter a password Passwords must be at least 8 characters long. Title Do not fill in this field. It is an anti-spam measure. Which program would you like to explore? People rarely give their best to an organization they do not believe in. No wonder that the success, or failure, of any organization is determined largely by their own employees, which is why it matters so much if they are engaged or not.

It takes more than financial incentives to connect a person with a company in a meaningful way. According to the Gallup State of the American Workplace report, organizations whose employees are engaged significantly outperform those with non-engaged workforces in key metrics including profitability, productivity, and customer ratings.

The study also shows that engaged employees demonstrate a willingness to go above and beyond typical job expectations and responsibilities. Additionally, engaged employees demonstrate enhanced creativity and passion, decreased turnover, reduced accidents, and less absenteeism. Satisfaction with the immediate supervisor.

A supervisor who communicates openly and honestly with employees is more likely to have an engaged and productive team. Employees need their immediate supervisors to provide feedback on, show appreciation for, and offer encouragement to improve individual performance.

Satisfaction with senior management. When leaders encourage open communication across all levels of the workforce, employees have increased levels of confidence that the company is being steered in the right direction. Pride in the organization. Open and honest two-way communication is the common thread that runs through each of these key factors of employee engagement.

Effective communication is important to employees, managers, senior leaders, and other stakeholders. Research shows that keeping employees informed with personal, relevant, and engaging communication gives companies a competitive edge and has direct results on the bottom line. These seven best practices can help increase open, honest, and effective two-way communication throughout the organization:. What does good work communication look like?

The recipient understands what is important, why, and what action they need to take. But the fundamental principle of all communication should be: respect the other party. What does that mean in workplace communication? Effective communication is about the needs of the listener. Think it through. There are many communications frameworks, but if you want to improve your communication skills, start by getting in the habit of thinking through these 5 questions for any communication you create:.

Test your understanding with co-workers or your manager. Give it time. Great communication benefits from having enough time to think it through. Plan what you want to say and review your communication to make sure it is actually doing the job you need it to.

For written communications, especially, this means: revise, revise, revise. Remember, great communication might seem effortless, but it rarely is.

Make it easy. In the workplace, communication almost always has a larger goal. People are busy. In both written and spoken communications, this often means leading with your main point or objective. Then fill in the details and complications. Focus on what is important. Trim away whatever does not serve. Eliminate jargon. Give more attention to the one or two messages you want to convey. Plan for how you will get the message across and strip all other distractions away.

Find a clear, simple phrasing to encapsulate your point. Repeat it at the beginning, middle, and end, and consider using a simple visual or metaphor to make your point clear and memorable. Experiment and diversify. Work on developing different tactics for different communication needs.

Focus on experimenting with one aspect of your communication at a time. For example, spend a week paying extra attention to how you structure informal communications. Then spend a week trying different structures for formal meetings or updates.

Practice and reflect. Can you see how it might have been misinterpreted? What would you do differently next time? Consider the full package. Consider recording yourself through a few interactions to gain insight into what your full package is communicating in your daily interactions with your team. Do you make eye contact? Is your facial expression relaxed and confident, or tense? As a leader, do you invite participation from others? Do you leave space for questions and clarification?

Seek feedback. Ask a few trusted co-workers and your manager to rate your communication skills. Start by asking them to rate i. Then ask these 3 questions:. Communicating well becomes even more important for leaders and managers during remote work. Doing it well can help build trust and connection with your team and avoid some of the frustrations that come from miscommunication. It is easy to get out of sync when employees are working different hours and missing normal interpersonal cues.

State expectations upfront and repeat them at the end of a communication. Even better, ask the other person to restate their understanding of expectations. Being remote and strained by juggling multiple personal and professional responsibilities can make it easier for employees to check out and disengage.

Be more deliberate and creative about giving others a role in communication. Ask questions, use polling and ranking tools, solicit responses in the form of emojis, gifs, or one-word descriptors. A lot can be misinterpreted in the flat space of text without additional cues like tone of voice and facial expression.

A well-crafted team meeting or quick phone call can establish a better connection and shared understanding, giving others a chance to surface areas of misalignment.

People may feel even more protective of their time, so make sure that live events are well-thought-out.