Internal communication: have we missed the mark?Only 37 percent of U.K. companies say employee communication is carefully planned before a major change (Smythe Dorward Lambert). In the U.S., the biggest regret among CEOs recently through a major restructure is inadequate communication with employees (The Wyatt Company). Want to improve communication with your frontline employees? Begin with ... a long hard look at the facts. Who should introduce change to the frontline? * some companies whose employees rank supervisors as their most desired source of information: AT&T, BHP BHP blood hydrostatic pressure; the pressure exerted by the blood cells and plasma in the capillaries. , Cadbury, Schweppes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Forte, GE, GM, General Tire The General Tire and Rubber Company is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles. General Tire was founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William F. O'Neil. In 1943 General Tire branched out from its core business by purchasing the Yankee Network and the radio stations , Hewlett Packard, Telecom Australia Telecom Australia was the trading name of the:
U.S., U.K., Australia: variety of published and unpublished sources * where employees turn when they have a problem they cannot solve themselves (in order) 1. supervisor 2. experienced coworker co·work·er or co-work·er n. One who works with another; a fellow worker. 3. unwritten LAW, UNWRITTEN, or lex non scripta. All the laws which do not come under the definition of written law; it is composed, principally, of the law of nature, the law of nations, the common law, and customs. company policy 4. company manual U.S., U.K., Japan, Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. : Mark Peterson This article is about the American soccer player Mark Peterson. For the Latter-day Saint leader, see Mark E. Petersen. Mark Peterson is a retired U.S. soccer forward. * employees say their immediate boss is their most effective communication source Europe (eight countries); International Survey Research * 76 percent say communication within their local work area is good U.K.: Wyatt Work U.K. * 83 percent of employees rank their supervisor as their most believed source U.S.: General Motors * 96 percent of frontline employees believe their supervisor is normally or always telling the truth; 45 percent believe the union is normally or always telling the truth Australia: Dennis Taylor
* 71 percent of branch managers describe their relationship with the bank head office as "clearly negative," "neutral," or they refuse to answer the question Sweden: Rita Martenson * only 34 percent have confidence in senior management U.K.: The Industrial Society * only 41 percent of employees have confidence in their corporate leaders Australia: Towers Perrin Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm. It was established 1 March 1934 as Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby. The umbrella name of Towers Perrin was adopted in 1987. * only 32 percent of employees believe management decisions are generally good ones U.S.: Wyatt WorkUSA * only 50 percent say they have pride in their company Canada: Hay Group  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . * workers' trust in their companies has worsened as a direct result of restructuring U.S.: Right Associates * 64 percent say they often don't believe what management says U.S.: Council of Communication Management and Alexander Consulting Group Lessons * cancel the executive traveling roadshow * stop advising executives to become more visible * give up trying to boost senior management credibility - there isn't time * don't gather big groups of employees together for a grand announcement * target frontline supervisors as your most important communication priority * spend 80 percent ot your time, money, and effort to communicate with supervisors * increase face-to-face contact between senior managers responsible far the change and supervisors * make supervisors feel like privileged senders and receivers of information What is the best way to reach frontline employees? * when asked about the quality of communication, what employees think about is face-to-face, the corporate produced communication is usually not mentioned or considered Australia: Hugh Mackay
Hugh Mackay (c. 1640 – 1692) was a Scottish general best known for his service in the Revolution of 1688. * how employees want information affecting their local work area: 90 percent face-to-face 9 percent print, 0.5 percent video Australia: Dennis Taylor * employees asked to recall a specific incident that increased their productivity: 70 percent mention feedback from their supervisor; communication with coworkers, meetings, memos and corporate-wide information have much lower impact US: Phillip G. Clampitt * despite increased use of faxes, E-mail, and computer networks, 55 percent of employees say the relevance of information reaching them has grown worse or not changed U.K.: Institute of Management and Aspen Briskness Communications * 33 percent of time spent at meetings is "wasted;" 75 percent of those attending meetings say they have no idea what the meeting is supposed to accomplish U.S.: Harrison Conference Services and Hofstra University Hofstra University (hŏf`strə, hôf`–), at Hempstead, N.Y.; coeducational. Founded as a division of New York Univ. in 1935, it became independent in 1940, and its name was changed to Hofstra College. * one-third of employees in companies with team briefings cannot remember having received a briefing U.K.: Vista Communications * (video retention) viewers, on average, remember only two of 14 news stories within one hour of watching the evening news on television Israel: Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (b. 1926 in New York) is an American sociologist. He has spent most of a lifetime in research on communication, his main focus being the interplay between media, conversation, opinion, and action in the public sphere. * "attempts at truth" is how almost 70 percent of communication managers describe their employee communication - less than 15 percent say their communication reflects the whole truth U.S.: William M. Mercer * 85 percent of supervisors avoid gathering their employees into groups and prefer communicating one-on-one U.S.: Janice A. Klein * 83 percent of companies use print to communicate major messages when restructuring - only 28 percent think this print communication is effective U.S.: The Wyatt Company * facing possible E.C. legislation, European companies It may never be fully completed or, depending on its its nature, it may be that it can never be completed. However, new and revised entries in the list are always welcome. This is a list of companies from the countries in the European Union. have significantly increased communication with employees; despite this increase, employee satisfaction with communication has not improved Europe (12 countries): Price Waterhouse * 60 percent of companies use video to communicate major messages when restructuring 75 percent think these videos are ineffective U.K.: Institute of Management and Aspen Business Communications Lessons * do not put corporate values in works; values belong in action * if you feel an irresistible urge to talk about your values - don't - instead go back and do more * the only credible way to communicate a value is when employees deduce de·duce tr.v. de·duced, de·duc·ing, de·duc·es 1. To reach (a conclusion) by reasoning. 2. To infer from a general principle; reason deductively: it from your behavior * executives like corporate-wide topics - frontline employees don't * information not touching their local work area is seen as irrelevant * desperately needed: more face-to-face communication with supervisors about upcoming changes to the local work area * even more desperately needed: more face-to-face communication with supervisors about local work area performance What should the content be? * 62 percent of employees agree or partly agree that poor performance is tolerated far too long in their organization U.K.: Wyatt WorkUK * 59 percent of employees say they rarely or never receive a reprimand REPRIMAND, punishment. The censure which in some cases a public office pronounces against an offender. 2. This species of punishment is used by legislative bodies to punish their members or others who have been guilty of some impropriety of conduct towards them. even when their work is below standard Australia: Verena Marshall * employee desire to know about the company's community involvement: 15th out of 17 topics U.S.: Karn Rosenberg (Towers Perrin) and IABC IABC International Association of Business Communicators IABC Indo-Americans for Better Community * only nine percent of companies say revising their corporate mission statement produced a measurable change toward the company's objective U.S.: Jensen communications Group * (meeting held with all employees explaining the overall financial picture of the company) four weeks later 34 percent of employees cannot remember any of the points discussed; only three percent remember the major point; the most frequently remembered points are about the local work area U.K.: Alistair Ostell * only 40 percent of communication managers say top management would support them if they tried to live up to espoused communication principles U.K.: Smythe Dorward Lambert * only 13 percent of employees can remember having a discussion with their supervisor about the quality of their work Canada: Rebecca Grant * employee desire to receive information about company ownership: 14th out of 17 topics New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. : Andrew Smith Andrew Smith or Andy Smith may refer to:
* employee desire to hear about the personal backgrounds of senior managers: 18th out of 25 topics Australia: Dennis Taylor * the information employees most want is about future changes to their local work area UK: Alistair Ostell * employee's desire to learn about the company's products and services: ninth out of 12 topics U.K.: Industrial Society * managers spend only five percent of their time talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to employees about how their jobs could be done better U.S.: Fred Luthans * manufacturing companies with written codes of ethics are just as likely to illegally dump toxic waste toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use, agriculture, the military, medical facilities, radioactive sources, and as companies without such codes U.S.: M. Cash Mathews * only 30 percent of executives think middle managers are acting in a way that supports the company vision U.S.: The Wyatt Company Lessons * among frontline employees, if it's not face-to-face, it's not communication * avoid video * make your print communication serve your face-to-face communication * print facts only, no values, missions, selling or propaganda * don't force supervisors to hold meetings * only consultants and senior managers believe supervisors are poor communicators * employees think supervisors are good communicators * the reason supervisors don't communicate is because they often don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anything worth communicating * we give supervisors information for which there is no employee demand (corporate financial performance, values, missions), then wonder why they don't communicate it * if supervisors are given high demand information (number and timing of layoffs, selection process for who goes, plant closing, new salary or wages rates), you couldn't stop the communication if you wanted to TJ Larkins and Sandar M. Larkin are partners at Larkin Communication Consulting, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , London and Melbourne. TJ Larkin will be a featured speaker at IABC's 1995 international conference. |
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