For Your Approval

Who do you trust?

It's an old saw in the internal communications business that front line employees don't trust senior management and the most credible source of information for them is their immediate supervisor. UK site HR Zone recently reported on a self-serving study by HR consultancy BlessingWhite that confirms this workplace truth.  BlessingWhite's study found that, while about three quarters of workers trust their direct supervisors, less than half have the same confidence in senior management.

On top of that, the study revealed that half of middle managers are planning or seriously considering leaving their current thankless jobs this year. HR Zone quotes Tom Barry of BlessingWhite:

"Our research has revealed that many senior managers appear to be issuing strategies from an ivory tower. Their direction can't filter through middle managers that don't trust them....Business leaders must give middle managers the structure and tools they need to help staff establish a strong connection with, and commitment to, their work....But they must also find a genuine, authentic leadership voice themselves - one that inspires trust. The most successful companies make employee engagement an ongoing priority, not a once-a-year event. Without trust, engagement initiatives can seem hollow."

For most employee communicators reading that quote, the response would be "Well, duh." We all know that. We live with it every day. The big question is why a new paradigm isn't emerging in business today that turns this unfortunate reality into regrettable history.

The good news of the study: a much higher percentage (59%) of Millennials -- the folks born in the 80s who are relatively new to the workforce -- trust senior management. This means there's hope, but the window isn't going to be open forever. The story of Generation Y could turn into Generation Sigh: how business leaders missed an opportunity of a lifetime to engage the next wave of workers.

The solution is not rocket surgery. What's required is for corporate leaders to reach out to their employees and connect with them in ways that earn trust. Right now a lot of hopeful effort is being put into social media as a way of using technology to renew that broken connection and close the gap. But positive change won't happen unless CEOs take the problem seriously and devote the right amount of attention to it. And it's up to us to give them the business case, the right advice, and the right strategies to make it happen.

A business leader's take on the communicator's role

We employee communicators are constantly trying to bridge the gap between ourselves and our CEOs. But we tend to drink our own bathwater, mainly looking at the problem from the communicator’s point of view. So it’s wonderful to get a fresh perspective on the subject, especially from a respected business leader.

I’m lucky to know Roger Martin, former management consultant, current Dean of Toronto’s Rottman School of Business, author and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review. I sent him a copy of my recent JECM article, which is an entreaty of sorts to CEOs to change the way they think about internal communication.

Roger has kindly agreed to let me share our short e-mail conversation about the article with FYA readers:

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Ron:

Good article. I like the advice.  There is one thing that I would encourage further thinking about.

It is the following:  All of the functions want the CEO to involve them earlier in whatever process you are talking about – IT, legal, marketing, design, HR, etc., etc.  So you may think your call for earlier involvement is unique but it is not.  And if you told that to the CEO, he/she would probably roll his/her eyes.  The key is how can the communications team earn the right to have a voice earlier in the process. The answer?  By making the CEO’s job easier not harder; and that means solving the CEO’s toughest problem with respect to the task at hand, not telling him/her that what he/she is about to do is problematic for this, that or the other reason. If they do that, guess what, they will always be at the table. If they don’t, they will find out later and be asked to do the best they can to minimize whatever downsides there are.

Cheers.

R.

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Roger,

You make an important point, and it’s a longstanding belief in the field of communications that the only way to earn that seat a the strategic table is to provide advice and deliver communications that directly support the business goals of the organization.

But I see how you might think my article is aimed at making CEOs’ lives harder by throwing a bunch of requirements and considerations in his or her path. But here’s the problem: too often corporate executives fall prey to short-term thinking that puts expediency ahead of investing in their relationship with employees. The challenge for communicators (and, as you note, IT, legal, design, HR, etc. etc.) is to find ways to elbow our way into the conversation before the decision takes place, and give the kind of advice that delivers results. From my point of view, that means having a conversation with CEOs during peacetime that sets the stage for better decision making, which in turn leads to the kind of positive outcomes that build trust and inclusion.

I’m optimistic that more of those kinds of conversations are going to take place in the coming years as corporate leaders come to the realization that if they don’t engage their employees, the best ones will go somewhere else.

Ron

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Ron:

Agreed.  I think both have to bend toward the middle.  CEOs have to understand the importance of communications folks getting involved earlier AND communications folks have to be better integrative problem solvers.  Then it will all work.

Cheers.

R.

Dear CEO

It’s time for corporate leaders to change the way they communicate with employees.

In an article in the current edition of the Journal of Employee Communication Management, I outline nine ways today’s CEOs can improve their vital connection with the people who make their businesses run. I’ve structured the piece as an open letter to CEOs.

When I first got this assignment, I invited readers of this blog to weigh in with their thoughts, which I incorporated into the article. Thanks, Mark, Steve, Robin and Kristen! Thanks also to my wise colleagues at Longview for their insights.

Here’s a link to the entire article, in .pdf format. Download ron_jecm_article_feb_08.pdf  

And here’s a blog-friendly summary of my advice to corporate leaders:

1. Think about communication as you’re making business decisions – not after the fact. Good business decisions can go bad in a hurry because communication implications aren’t considered as part of the decision-making process.

2. Involve your communications team much earlier than you do now. Your communicators can act as a proxy for employees who do not otherwise have a voice.

3. Recognize that today’s employees don’t necessarily share your values. Baby boomer CEOs have a different work ethic, a different set of priorities, a different idea of what a successful career looks like, and a different way of communicating. If you communicate as if all employees think just like you, you risk alienating and further disengaging your workforce.

4. Understand what your employees are thinking. Quickie employee polls, readership surveys and small focus groups can give you timely and useful information. Be sure to show that you’ve listened, and that you’re responding to employee concerns, and you’ll earn their trust.

5. Start a real conversation with your employees.  One of the easiest ways to increase engagement is to have a conversation with employees about the future of your company. Get ahead of the curve now and start experimenting with social media like blogs and podcasts. In the meantime, get out there and talk with people face to face.

6. For goodness’ sake, stop blocking the Internet! There are security and productivity issues, but they can be resolved. Severely limiting internet access is not the answer because it inhibits employee engagement. Open access to information invites involvement, breeds innovation and inspires commitment.

7. Improve day-to-day communication with your direct reports. The way to make the biggest impact is to model the right behavior with your own immediate team.

8. Don’t be reluctant to tell the whole truth. If you don’t talk frankly and openly about what everyone knows already, you lose credibility – and the next time you have really positive news to talk about, employees won’t buy that, either.

9. And, finally, and perhaps most importantly, speak plain English with employees. The language you may speak in the boardroom, or with your bankers and lawyers, may be truthful but it’s incomprehensible to most employees.

To communicators, all this stuff is as obvious as the nose on our faces. But many corporate execs don’t think in these terms, and their leadership suffers as a result. Part of our job should be to give them this kind of advice, and I don't think we do it often enough.