A survey by The Conference Board shows poor internal communications threatens employee satisfaction, ... [+]
“What we’ve got here . . . is failure to communicate.” One of Hollywood’s greatest lines, delivered in the 1967 movie “Cool Hand Luke.”
It’s also a warning to American bosses on the eve of the 125th anniversary of Labor Day.
Worker satisfaction is at a 20-year high, according to a new survey from the non-profit think tank The Conference Board. About 54 percent of U.S. workers said they were satisfied with their employment. That’s a jump of nearly 3 percentage points, the second-biggest one-year increase in the 32-year history of the survey. Higher wages, greater job availability and job security are big reasons why.
Obviously, good news for all.
The bad news is workers in the survey gave failing marks to their organization’s internal communications as well as other communications-related aspects of their employment.
That’s potential trouble for employers. Workers are walking out the door at record levels. Reports of “ghosting” – employees not showing up without notice – are increasing. With competition so fierce to hire and keep good employees, employers should want to address the communications shortcoming.
“In today’s strong jobs market, people are quitting their current positions at the fastest pace in over two decades,” said Gad Levanon, PhD, an author of the report and The Conference Board’s Chief Economist for North America. “It’s one of the many signs that illustrate improved opportunities for workers. They now have more leverage when it comes to increasing their paychecks and finding jobs that better align with their interests and skills.”
The survey of about 2,000 workers across the country asked respondents to rate how 23 aspects of their jobs impacted their satisfaction. The Conference Board confirmed that money can’t – on its own – buy happiness.
Many of the top drivers of employee communications are related to communications aspects.
Respondents said most of the top drivers of their satisfaction are related to employee development and communications practices. At the top was potential for future growth, followed by communications channels, recognition/acknowledgement, interest in work and performance review process. Wages came in fourteenth. Other compensation aspects all came in lower.
So, at least four of the five – all but interest in work – can be tied back to how well a company and the boss communicate. Even the top driver, potential for growth, requires the employee being made aware of the opportunities.
“Our research reveals that workers place the biggest premium on a job’s potential for future growth, but at the moment 60 percent of U.S. workers feel dissatisfied with this component,” noted Robin Erickson, PhD, an author of the report and a Principal Researcher at The Conference Board.
Employees report lack of satisfaction with communications-related aspects of their work hurts their ... [+]
The survey also found that all six satisfaction drivers with the lowest ratings were related directly or indirectly to communications. From the bottom: bonus plan, promotion policy, performance review process, educational/job training programs, recognition/acknowledgement and communications channels. Employees often complain about the transparency of how bonuses, promotions and performance review are conducted.
The survey findings should come as no surprise. There have been countless books and peer-reviewed research papers published showing the strong correlation between good employee communications and employee engagement and performance.
The correlation is only likely to get stronger as Gen Z workers join their Millennial siblings in the workforce. They want more feedback and more communication, and they want a lot of it looking them in the eye, face to face.
How do companies solve this problem without breaking the bank?
From the Conference Board and my decades of experience are these suggestions:
• Implement or enhance a total talent mobility program to demonstrate growth potential to employees. It’s better to have to fill a vacancy for an employee you promoted or rotated to a new job than to fill a vacancy because you lost a good employee to a competitor.
• Consider the transparency of communication channels and determine whether to make improvements. That means putting employees first when it comes to delivering company news and giving your communications team a seat at the top table.
• Create or enhance an employee recognition program. The days of, “Their ‘thanks’ is in their paycheck.” are over.
• Ask employees whether they are inspired by their performance reviews and, if they aren’t, ask what would inspire them.
Bottom line: Invest time and talent in good internal communications or pay the price in terms of turnover and talent acquisition costs.
