5 Effective Ways to Communicate Better with Your Employees
While there are a lot of factors that contribute to employee satisfaction, good communication practices in the workplace often ranks high on the list. Organizations that have good communication practices are observed to have more productive employees and better profitability because of high retention rates and better employee satisfaction.
Undoubtedly, the benefits good workplace communication provides are numerous. That’s the reason many organizations encourage managers to hone their communication skills so they can lead by example.
If you are a manager looking for effective ways to communicate better with people in your organization, below are good starting points:
- Keep it personal
Nowadays, tweets, e-mails, and texts have been used increasingly in office communications. While undoubtedly fast and efficient, using them has one major downside—they are impersonal.
That being said, if managers want to enhance workplace communication significantly, they need to make sure they interact with their employees on a personal level. In other words, they need to interact face-to-face. When managers exert time and effort to interact with their employees on a more personal level, it helps them feel valued, appreciated, and heard.
- Share corporate objectives openly
Managers who share corporate goals and objectives openly will not only help employees see the bigger picture, they can also help the company move forward with more ease.
Knowing the work they are doing can make a difference also helps employees feel like they matter and that they are helping the company achieve its collective goals and objectives.
- Get rid of barriers
Typically, there’s this invisible wall that exists between management and employees. Managers should be willing to break down said wall especially if it already gets in the way of good communication.
One way to break the barrier would be for managers to step out of their offices every now and then and interact with their employees. Employees need to see their managers as approachable—someone they can comfortably approach whenever they have ideas, concerns, and feedbacks.
- Take action
When you ask for employee suggestions and feedbacks but don’t take action, it’s synonymous to telling them their suggestions, feedbacks, and ideas don’t really matter. Indirectly, you are shutting down communication even if you are not aware of it.
At all times, don’t make employees feel like what they have to say does not matter. Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of alienating them and dramatically driving productivity, morale, and job satisfaction down. Alternatively, when employees see that their suggestions and ideas are acted upon, they’ll be encouraged to contribute more and perform better.
- Encourage employees to give honest feedback
Employees love working in an environment where their opinions, feedback, and ideas are valued. If they are encouraged to give feedback (including negative ones if there are any) without it being taken against them would be a powerful communication tool for managers.
That’s the reason employee surveys are very effective. They allow employees to give their feedbacks anonymously. However, soliciting suggestions, ideas, and comments face-to-face is always a better option so you can dig deeper when the need calls for it.
Good communication will require time, effort, and patience. It is also important to keep in mind that you won’t become a good communicator overnight. However, as long as you are willing to put in the work, the benefits you will receive will make all the hard work you put in worthwhile.
