The biggest challenge in communicating with employees today is
not coping with a culturally diverse work force, overcoming the
impersonalization of e-mail or battling information overload to get
your message across. Instead, it's getting employees to trust
you and offer ideas for improving the business.
It was one of Tory Johnson's eight employees who first
suggested expanding New York City-based Women For Hire
LLC to the West Coast in 2004. "It wasn't a case where
I said, 'We are going to expand and I want you to figure out
what the best cities are,'" says Johnson, 34, founder and
CEO of the $2 million career-fair organizer. "Someone came to
me and said, 'Here's what I think, and here's why.'
We did it, and it's been a huge growth opportunity for
us."
While Johnson gives the employee credit for the suggestion, she
says that her efforts to create a workplace where bottom-up
communication is encouraged laid the groundwork. And it takes more
than a memo, she says. She starts with the hiring process, asking
candidates to describe an occasion when they disagreed with a
co-worker or a boss, rejecting those who demur in favor of
outspoken types.
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After hiring, Johnson continues to stress the need for employee
input, telling them by e-mail and phone as well as face to face
that she values them and expects feedback, even when it's
negative. "It's very important to me to have people who
are honest and true to their beliefs, vs. saying what they think I
want to hear just because I sign their paychecks," she
says.
Employers would do well to return the candor, says Shel Holtz,
principal of Holtz
Communication + Technology in Concord, California, and author
of Corporate Conversations: A Guide to Crafting
Effective and Appropriate Internal Communications. That
means being upfront about bad news as well as good when it affects
the company. "Employees who are well-informed about the
business can recognize change and know what they can do to address
that," he says.
Companies with engaged employees will experience double-digit
growth more often than those in which workers feel untrusted and
unheard by the leadership, Holtz says. "What leads to
engagement is trust," he adds. Companies create trust by
considering employees' best interests and inviting them to take
part in decisions.
When Pleasanton, California, communications coach Carmine
Gallo interviewed a Hall-of-Fame list of entrepreneurs from
Starbucks' Howard Schultz to Monster.com's Jeff Taylor for his book
10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business
Communicators, trust was a common theme. "The word
authentic kept coming up," Gallo says.
What does authentic mean? And how do you communicate it? Gallo
says any medium, from company newsletters to personal phone calls,
can and should be used. "It's making people feel as though
they share the vision, to open up their enthusiasm and passion by
sharing stories about why you're doing what you do, says Gallo.
"I've heard from several admired business leaders that
never before has such a premium been placed on building trust and
showing integrity."
While communicating with your employees can be challenging, the
good news is that it's not difficult to do things to motivate
and empower workers that bigger companies will find hard to match.
"Employees demand more than paychecks, and smart leaders know
it," says Gallo. "Today's employees want to be
nurtured, inspired and recognized for their achievements, and they
want to feel part of something great."
Mark Henricks writes on business and technology for leading
publications and is author of Not Just a Living.