Communication to Employee Engagement is like “Location, Location, Location” is to Real Estate. It’s crucial. Here’s why. If your constituencies (Board, employees, vendors, community, etc.) don’t have information about your organization, a void is created. As humans, we fill that void with something and unfortunately, most of the time it is negative. So communicating truthfully helps alleviate a lot of misperceptions. Here are some other reasons why open communication is critical:
It helps everyone to be on the same page. If everyone is on the same page, then solutions to problems tend to come to everyone at the same time. This makes it a lot easier and more effective for people to understand the decisions we make.
People feel appreciated. Have you ever worked in a company where you never knew what was going on? How did that make you feel? Unappreciated, unimportant, neglected, disrespected? How can we expect to have engaged employees if they feel that way?
It creates a more healthy culture. Great cultures are open, honest, and respectful. Open communication helps create this.
It helps employees respect the leaders. When people feel like the leadership is truthful and honest, they will give their all and be great followers. It’s hard to be a great leader if you don’t have followers.
