The key role managers play in communication and employee success

Employees are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged at work when they regularly talk to their manager about their goals and successes.

• Why it matters: 39% of managers say they send team updates a few times a month or less, meaning employees aren’t hearing from the direct leaders who know their work best and have the context they both need to help teams do their jobs well.

Even worse, only 46% of employees say the communications they do receive from leaders are helpful, relevant, and include the information they need to do their jobs well. So not only are they get hearing from leaders often — when they do, it’s ineffective.

This leads to:

• Misalignment, as leaders and employees fall out of sync.

• Disengagement, as trust and transparency breaks down.

• Massive waste, in time, productivity, profit, and potential.

Three steps can help leaders inside organizations of all shapes and sizes start to change this story.

1. Change frequency. Thirty-six percent of employees say their organization’s leaders could improve their internal workplace communications by sharing them more frequently. The more relevant, targeted information managers send, the more likely colleagues are to have the information they need not only to get their jobs done, but to stay engaged with what’s going on with the organization’s culture, goals, and mission.
2. Fill in missing context in a digestible way. The top two improvements employees want when it comes to internal communications are receiving updates that offer more thoughtful and insightful details and ones that cover more relevant topics.
3. Add feedback loops. The top challenge leaders say they face when communicating is understanding what their audience needs to know. Start with a simple survey. Ask what your staff, stakeholders or other key audiences need, want, and value. Then deliver on it. The better access employees have to the information they need, the better they will be at executing goals.

The bottom line: When leaders deliver the information employees need in a timely manner, it increases engagement and productivity. And when they seek and implement feedback, they are giving their employees a voice and a stake in the organization’s long-term success.

Go deeper: Learn the four key pillars that make internal communication strategies a success.