Cosmic Question: Why Doesn't Management Talk to the Rank and File?
Only about one-third of employees at a typical company are fully engaged at their jobs, according to a recent survey by Right Management Consultants, a Philadelphia-based career transition and organizational consulting firm (www.right.com). Their study goes on to report that in 28 percent of the 336 companies polled, management communicates its business strategy only with the leadership teams. As a result, workers at these companies say they are unsure about their employers’ missions and strategies. Further research suggests that these companies suffer from lower productivity and product quality as well and have more customer complaints and higher turnover.
So the big question: Why? Why doesn’t management get the word out about where it’s going and how it plans to get there? Most employees learn about the company’s inner workings and plans from their immediate supervisor day to day. So why don’t organizations teach these immediate supervisors when to communicate, how to communicate, what to communicate? Employees engage and commit and become more fully productive when they know what’s expected of them and understand how their job and day-to-day tasks fit into the big picture and goals of the organization.
Why is it that generally only the middle managers and above receive training in communication and the lower-ranking supervisors and managers are left to fend for themselves in one-third of all organizations—the less profitable one-third?
Until somebody provides a good explanation for this obvious lapse in communication, I wholeheartedly agree with the solutions offered in Training Magazine (April 2006). That is, create an internal speakers bureau within your organization to "get the word out" about your company—its business strategy and goals. Implement the bureau idea with these tips: 1) Identify leaders at the middle-management ranks and lower who are experts in their field. 2) Offer them training in public speaking. 3) Create an online presence for them with their bios, photos, and areas of expertise.
I take it back—it’s not really a cosmic question. It’s a comic question.
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