The Need for Effective Communication in U.S. Organizations

As humans, we have a need to be appreciated and a need to belong both at work and at home. This sense of belonging and feeling appreciated means so much to us that employees will often leave their jobs because they don’t feel needed. One of the key drivers of an employee’s attitude towards job satisfaction is the quality of communications.  We found in our 2014 Insightlink National Employee Survey that a shocking 60% of employees in the U.S. are not satisfied with the overall effectiveness of communications within their organizations. This suggests that many U.S. organizations are failing to make their employees feel needed and are at risk of low morale, high turnover and poor productivity.  

What do employees want?

Employees want transparency in their place of work so they don’t feel they are being kept in the dark. They want to have senior managers who are willing to share information so they don’t hear what is happening in the organization from outside sources. They want open lines of communication from top to bottom and from bottom to top and to feel their input is welcomed, listened to and valued, especially when the decisions being made affect them directly.

In a physical sense, it’s about removing or dealing effectively with barriers that could prevent open communication, such as having staff divided over multiple locations or having an office layout that is not conducive to conversation.  It means building a culture where employees feel free to voice their opinions openly at work.  

Employees also want all levels of management to extend simple acts of acknowledgement and appreciation such as making eye contact and saying hello when they pass in the halls. To foster a strong sense of belonging, employees want, and need, for their immediate managers to meet with them regularly, in teams and one-on-one and take an interest in them as people.  

In our 4Cs Employee Surveys we gather suggestions from employees for improving organizational communications. Some of the recent comments included: 

• Holding regular department and town hall meetings,
• Planning informal employee social events to improve rapport between departments,
• Increasing opportunities for employees to interact with senior management,
• Developing listening and feedback skills at all levels in the organization, and
• Assisting employees to better understand the roles and responsibilities of employees in other departments. 

As one of the key drivers of employee satisfaction in the U.S. the effectiveness of communications overall within the organization and effectiveness of communications between employees and senior management can result in improved employee morale, productivity, and job satisfaction.   Where does your organization stand on the effectiveness of communication?  

Contact us at Insightlink Communications to find out more about employee satisfaction surveys and how we can help you start to make work a better place.