Of all the contributors to business success, the ability to effectively communicate with employees is essential. Organizations that understand the importance of good communication tend to have highly unified workplaces.
They also enjoy more motivated, productive, and loyal employees than those companies that take communication for granted.
Still for many businesses, implementing effective employee communication practices is often easier said than done. To that end, here are 6 proven ways to better communicate with employees that any organization can put into practice right away.
6 Ways to Communicate Better With Employees
1) Promote Genuine Face-to-Face Interactions
There’s no denying that there’s a number of new and novel ways for people to interact and communicate using technology. However, when it comes to communicating in the workplace, no technical tools are as effective as good old-fashioned face-to-face interaction with employees.
As efficient as texts and emails can be, their impersonal nature does little to strengthen working relationships the way that real-time, face-to-face communication can.
In addition, when managers take extra time and effort to talk face-to-face with employees, the employees tend to feel more valued and respected by the company, which in turn makes them more engaged and productive.
2) Promote Openness and Inclusion
Nothing motivates an employee more than feeling that what they do has a direct benefit to the company. Being open and inclusive with employees with respect to corporate objectives gives them a better understanding of the big picture and the role they play in moving the company forward.
The key is to communicate regularly, as this promotes engagement by keeping employees updated on how their efforts are contributing to the achievement of corporate goals.
3) Exchange Opinions and Ideas
Along with feeling appreciated for their work, employees like to feel that their ideas and opinions matter. Companies where management solicits and listens to employee feedback—without employees fearing retaliation for negative comments—are making wise use of a valuable communication tool.
Comments made anonymously through surveys and suggestion boxes are also effective in making employees feel that they have a real voice in how things are done.
4) Break Down Walls
By definition, there will always be walls between employees and management. More often than not, these walls can become real barriers to communication by making management appear more isolated from employees than may actually be the case.
Therefore, a vital role of management is to break down these walls so that employees can feel comfortable about approaching them with any issues or ideas they might have.
5) Action-Based Communication
Few things can stifle communication more in the workplace than management that fails to take action with respect to employee feedback. Employees, who feel that their comments are falling on deaf ears will soon stop trying to communicate, because what’s the point?
This can lead to a drop in morale and productivity, which could potentially spread throughout the workplace like a virus.
Managers wishing to maintain a workplace of frequent and open communication need to act on what they hear—or soon they won’t be hearing anything.
6) Express Employee Appreciation
While many of the above communication techniques can help employees feel more appreciated, nothing takes the place of managers directly communicating employee appreciation for a job well done.
Open and ongoing communication in the workplace helps to ensure that, when the time for recognition comes, employees will be rewarded in personal, relevant, and meaningful ways.
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Robert Cordray is a freelance writer with over 20 years of business experience
He does the occasional business consult to help increase employee morale
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Web
Edited by Valentina Hoyos
Image Sources: 3.bp.blogspot.com
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“Employees are our most important asset”? How can you say that employees are our most important asset and yet not be open and inclusive in the process of obtaining buy-in on critical and basic decisions? Some companies even make it difficult for employees to understand quarterly financial results when those same employees are stockholders. Why is it that if employees are truly so important to the success of most modern enterprises, they are frequently the last audience considered for important announcements and the first audience targeted for cost reductions? It is a dilemma that you will face regularly.
Yes, Communication is very important for business success. This article is really helpful to improve communication.
Thanks!!!