Adrian Gostick

One of the fastest ways to unite your team is to increase your open communication. When everyone knows what’s going on, they tend to feel more like they’re “all in this together”. This month’s newsletter is about how to better communicate with your employees. And if you have an idea or suggestion that works for you, with us!

Five Ways to Communicate Better with your Employees

By Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

Charlie Chaplain, Peter Sellers, Rowan Atkinson. Throughout movie history some actors have been able to hold an audience’s attention without even saying a word.

Likewise as managers, we are constantly sending messages—often without speaking. We communicate by the things we do, the things we don’t do, through our facial expressions, and through our body language. As bosses we send messages all the time, and yet why do so many of our employees feel they’re not receiving adequate communication at work?

Take this data: A survey by Right Management Consultants of employees in 336 organizations revealed that only 30 percent of employees understand their company’s business strategy. That means seven out of every ten people who work for you have little idea of what your organization’s primary goals are. That lack of communication has a direct impact on employee commitment and trust. When we feel left out of the loop, we feel disengaged. It’s that simple.

So what to do?

Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic (and coincidentally the keynote speaker in our upcoming annual Carrot summit), explains that communication should take precedence over everything else in business. Said Bill, “Leaders don’t pay enough attention to their people. They do so at their peril, because their employees interpret and respond accordingly—in a compliant fashion rather than with their best work.”

That makes perfect sense. When we fail to communicate, employees are left with little understanding of what we can accomplish together. And when employees can’t share in the potential of your team or organization, they achieve only enough to make it through the day. Basically, marginal communication performances by a manager equates to marginal employee performances.

In our research we’ve seen that many managers buy into a dangerous myth: the fear that communicating more effectively will take too much of their already limited time. But, again, if you don’t find time to perform your job, your employees won’t use their time to perform at their full potential.

The truth of the matter is this: keeping the team up to speed with proper communication doesn’t have to take long. Mary Corr, a manager of corporate revenue integrity (isn’t that a great title) at Orlando Health, one of Florida’s most comprehensive private, not-for-profit healthcare networks, shared with us how she guides her team in communicating their goals. She said:

We take 15 minutes of our staff meeting to discuss behaviors we want to change and how we are going to do it. We outline areas of opportunity then detail the small steps we need to take to improve and present ourselves in a positive manner. This has proven to be a successful approach to strengthening our team.

In just fifteen minutes a week, Mary has created an open forum to solve problems and focus on improvements. Opening up communication literally opens the door to success for you, your employees, and your company.

So, what are the gold standards of iconic communicators in business? The best managers:

*Set clear guiding values and goals. By clarifying your core strategies and principles you as a manager can better guide the conversations because everyone knows what they’re working toward.
*Discuss issues facing the company and the team. By updating your people on the big and small issues facing your team or company in daily huddles, you give people the opportunity to be “invested” in organizational priorities. The more they know, the more likely they are to provide suggestions or focus on solutions in their daily work.
*Respond promptly to team member requests for more information. By respectfully answering questions, you strengthen your trust with each team member.
*Tell the stories of employee accomplishment to key individuals in the organization. Storytelling (bragging on your people) is one of the most effective ways of communicating your trust in your employees.
*Recognize, recognize, recognize. There are few communication activities more powerful than gathering your team to appreciate the great work of an employee. As an exclamation point, end the gathering with a team cheer.

As a manager, you own the spotlight. If your words, actions and interactions don’t properly share the messages you want communicated, your audience won’t know how to respond. Like an actor on the big screen, your team is looking for you to tell the story, to guide them to the next big scene, and to lead them to the performance of a lifetime.

I’ve heard a concern numerous times in the past few months: “We only reward people who are involved with big initiatives. Most of our people don’t get to work on those projects and they feel left out.”

I’ve heard a concern numerous times in the past few months: “We only reward people who are involved with big initiatives. Most of our people don’t get to work on those projects and they feel left out.”

I had a chance to give a speech at the headquarters of American Express last week. This financial services firm is quick to attribute its success to its 60,000 people, all of whom are consistent, dependable, and trustworthy. And yet most come in every day and do their jobs without fanfare. With that in mind, AmEx’s recognition program includes ways to recognize performance within the job scope.

For instance: I sat down with one employee who told me he’d recently won the company’s Consistent Excellence award. This person works mostly behind the scenes—supporting employee communications and public affairs efforts. He certainly helps build and maintain the stellar AmEx reputation, but he’s not in the spotlight very often. He said the Consistent Excellence honor thanked him for the thousand things he’s done over the years that no one had ever noticed. The award was presented in front of the entire public affairs group and specific contributions were noted. It was truly a highlight of his career.

Great firms like AmEx realize that above-and-beyond recognition is often what we call “in-role,” rewarding employees who behave in exemplary ways within the realm of their daily jobs. By their actions, these people set an example for other workers, build strong connections with your customers, and are the living embodiment of your core values. Fail to recognize above-and-beyond behaviors within the job scope, and you fail to drive continued great performances.

I’ve heard a concern numerous times in the past few months: “We only reward people who are involved with big initiatives. Most of our people don’t get to work on those projects and they feel left out.”

I had a chance to give a speech at the headquarters of American Express last week. This financial services firm is quick to attribute its success to its 60,000 people, all of whom are consistent, dependable, and trustworthy. And yet most come in every day and do their jobs without fanfare. With that in mind, AmEx’s recognition program includes ways to recognize performance within the job scope.

I met one employee who told me he’d won his department’s Consistent Excellence award. This person works mostly behind the scenes—supporting brand and communications activities. He certainly helps build and maintain the stellar AmEx reputation, but he had not previously been in the spotlight very often. He said the Consistent Excellence honor thanked him for the many things he’s done over the years. The award was presented in front of his colleagues and specific contributions were noted. It was truly a highlight of his career.

Great firms like AmEx realize that above-and-beyond recognition is often what we call “in-role,” rewarding employees who behave in exemplary ways within the realm of their daily jobs. By their actions, these people set an example for other workers, build strong connections with your customers, and are the living embodiment of your core values. Fail to recognize above-and-beyond behaviors within the job scope, and you fail to drive continued great performances.