Management must use communication to enhance employee trust and confidence in the organisation

 

“If this was a hospital, would you bring your mother to be treated here?” a strategic turnaround manager started off the meeting by asking one of the staff members.

The turnaround manager had been called to establish what ailed an on the surface otherwise successful organization which was profusely bleeding in the inside due to poor management communication practices.  

The girl who was asked to respond flatly said “No.” She would not dare nor even dream of bringing her mother to the hospital.

On the face of it, this seemed just like any other small talk to break the ice and get employees talking. But at the heart of the conversation lay a serious strategic communication issue that should have had management thinking about how it was handling communication and its general impact on the employees.

You see, many of us go to the hospital when we are unwell or want to be checked up for emerging health issues. 

We believe that the solution to our health problems lie with the doctors whom we trust to get us up again. In fact, we trust the doctors and the hospitals because of the reputation of their services and institutions. 

In a situation where an employee feels that their mother cannot be treated at the “hospital” it means that they do not trust the management of the organization and their hearts and minds are elsewhere looking for better “hospitals”.

The employee’s low trust and confidence in the organization means they are in the “hospital” because of circumstances beyond their control and eventually they will want to leave the organization for a better hospital.

In fact, one can say that the current organization is a safe house and the employees will soon leave to their intended destinations where they can be treated to their satisfaction.

However, management can leverage strategic communication to ensure that employees chose to be “treated” and even recommend their kin to the hospital.

For starters communication is everything. It is what can make or break an organization. Communication is responsible for the value that an organization places on itself, its employees and other external stakeholders.

Employees will for instance choose to leave or stay in an organization not on account of workload but because of how the organization makes them feel.

Communication is important as it helps build trust, it leads to motivation and is critical in enhancing creativity and competitiveness in the organization.

Management must therefore strive to ensure that its communication is consistent with the ideals, vision and mission of the company.

Management must also seek to mainstream communication with a view to enhance employee feeling of appreciation, recognition, engagement and involvement.

Without doing this, the organization will keep losing the best talent to other organizations as employees will keep  seeking for better “treatment” services elsewhere.

Ends…….