A lot of organizations think they know what information employees want. Unfortunately, many seem to get the answers wrong. When employees don’t get what they need to know, they don’t buy-in. They don’t feel a sense of connection with the organization, and they don’t understand the business.
That’s interesting on a lot of levels, not the least because employees want to know many of the same things that senior managers want to know. According to our research representing more than 500,000 employees, here’s some inside information about what employees really want to know about their companies:
1. The business direction.
Where is the organization heading? This is essential to an employee’s career self-analysis. Organizations that have strong values and a compelling vision are more appealing than those which do not. High performing employees understand the business direction and how they fit in to the whole.
2. What is changing, when it will change and what needs to change.
Change may not be constant, but it is frequent. It’s critical that employees think in terms of what changes and improvements they need to make in their own work. To do so, they must understand the changes occurring or planned within the world around them.
3. The reasons behind decisions.
Organizations leave the reasons out of their communication far too frequently. When employees doesn’t know the reasons, they speculate and often assume a far more negative reason than reality. Understanding reasons leads to buy-in and commitment. Plus, sharing the reasons behind decisions demonstrates trust, which is in increasingly short supply these days.
4. An open, two-way environment.
No one aspires to a closed, one-way environment. But the best and brightest take openness for granted. It’s a given that they will be able to freely share their input throughout the organization. For many managers, that’s threatening, and they respond by shutting off the flow of information. Organizations still struggling with open dialogue will be challenged to retain their top employees.
5. How changes will affect them and their colleagues.
At the very least, employees need to know that someone is considering the effect on them and those close to them. Managers sometimes leave out the effects because they are “negative.” But employees can handle bad news; what they cannot handle is not knowing. Also, determining the effect doesn’t have to be left to the manager he or she can engage the employee in dialogue about the potential effect. That increases the perception that the organization cares about the employee.
These five things can contribute to better manager-employee relationships, to the work environment and to retention. It’s our job as communicators to help our management understand these five items so that every time they speak with employees, this is what comes out of their mouths.
And then after they mention these items, the next best thing for management to do is shut up and listen to what employees have to say.
But that’s for another article.
