Communication is Key

One of our culture’s most popular clichés is “timing is everything”. Just ask a realtor as they wait in the unemployment line. Well, we business and HR professionals tend to believe that timing is very important – but COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING.

Employees spend over 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation: with clients, customers, co-workers, the boss, the public; verbally, written, email -- it is all about the communication. And speaking of email, does the irony strike anyone else that all this blogging, “twittering,” and “linking” is called social networking? The new definition of social apparently does not include personal interaction. At least not face-to-face. By now, your employees may be spending 80% of that interpersonal 75%, networking socially.

If, as studies show, employees don’t quit the company they work for so much as they “quit” their immediate supervisor, then every supervisor had better be an expert communicator.

Why is this an issue now that an employer can have his or her pick from a multitude of eager applicants? Because you still want the best people you can find. Once you get them in the door you had better communicate well or they’ll keep looking.

If an employee is not doing what’s expected of him or her, it is likely for one or more of the following reasons. Notice how many are communication-based:
• They don’t know why they should do it
• They don’t know how to do it
• They don’t know what they are supposed to do
• They think your way will not work
• They think their way is better
• They think something else is more important
• They think they are doing it
• They are punished for doing it
• They are rewarded for not doing it.
• It is beyond their personal limits
• No one could do it

So it is clear that a good supervisor communicates expectations and rationale and is consistent when working with their employees. It involves a lot more than being good at giving orders, however. Eisenhower once defined “leadership” as (I paraphrase) the ability to get others to do what you want because they want to. He was good at giving orders, but it took something more to make him a good leader.

We all know how important listening is. It is probably the most important – and hardest part – of communicating. You can take classes in “Active Listening” but what I am talking about goes beyond merely understanding the message – it is understanding the messenger. Is your manager a detail person or do they leave the details to you and provide you with the broad picture? Is your employee the kind that likes a lot of direction or very little? These different types of personalities, thinkers and producers, are all communicating that information to you, and they hear better when you match their style.

Feedback is also huge. One of a manager’s most important skills is to give specific, individualized feedback to their employees. But listen to these 2 different approaches and tell me which is the more effective:

“Well, congratulations! You’re on time for a change!” Or

“Thanks for making it in on time today. I knew you could do it.”

Sounds obvious, but the first one is used all too often. Not sure if any personality style would respond to that back-handed complement, either.

In order to attract and retain the best employees businesses must hire supervisors who can set expectations, listen, coach, and communicate them to each “style” of employee. You don’t want your employees quitting because your supervisors don’t understand that communication is everything.