The study also found that a third of employees (31%) said they would leave their organisation if they lost trust in their leaders. With economic uncertainty still playing a part in an employee’s decision for remaining in their current company, it is important that as leaders we do all we can to retain talent to avoid them leaving when the market picks up.

The worry with these findings is that not only do employees not believe the information they receive from their senior team but they don’t believe in their leadership team’s ability to improve business performance. As part of the leadership team we want to ensure that we have everyone on board while navigating these difficult business circumstances. Highlighting more than ever the need for strong leadership and communication within a company to motivate and drive employees.

Communication

Communicating as much as possible with employees is vital for motivating and improving business performance. When communicating we need to ensure that we only deliver a clear message but that the message is being heard and understood. To do this:

  • Prepare your communication – clarify the goal of the communication, plan this before sending or meeting in person and pre-empt how the message will be received by thinking of the receiver’s viewpoint and feelings.
  • Choose the appropriate method of delivery – how we deliver the message is just as important as the message itself. Will the message be misinterpreted if sent through email, do you need to deliver the message in a large group? This will depend on the message we have to communicate, think how we would want the message to be delivered to ourselves and use this method.
  • Deliver the message – when delivering the message, relate the message to the larger goals. Ensure that your employees fully understand that the individual tasks they do on a day-to-day basis make a difference to the business as a whole. Identify clearly any action that needs to be taken following delivery of the message and make sure the other person has understood the message. Listen to any feedback received from delivering the message and address this.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the communication.

Finally, relentless and systematic feedback from employees or from your team will ensure you are not one of the many leaders and managers who are too remote or disconnected from what your employees think and feel. Comprehensive and well-designed upward feedback from employee to management will reap significant reward as well as educating the management team.