Corporate communication failures

The silent assassin of businesses

Corporate communications often tend to describe how things should be, rather than how things actually are, and this dysfunction between expectations and reality can lead to a problematic gap between the company’s management and internal stakeholders, especially employees. More often than not, internal communications are an afterthought, and not given the due consideration they deserve. However, if real world data from stakeholder engagement surveys is anything to go by, businesses could be bleeding vital performance and productivity, which may not be readily apparent in their results – the silent assassin of businesses.

Internal communication is the substrate upon which businesses can develop networks of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and stakeholder engagement. It allows business leaders to motivate their employees in the core values and mission goals of the organisation, while employees feel they are valued and have a stake in how the organisation is run.

Without these lines of communication, companies can disintegrate into a loose collection of individuals, without any common direction, and in a worst case scenario, end up actively working against the interests of each other, and the interests of the company. However, with the right communication strategies, a company can foster the collective potential of its human capital, with end results far beyond the sum of its parts. Moreover, to understanding why some approaches to communication work better than others, it is important to accept the art of nuance. The approach, delivery, and format are all equally important as the actual content and the message.

Internal communication stats – the good, the bad, and the ugly

A key part of corporate communications is internal stakeholder engagement, especially in terms of getting the best out of employees. Data suggests that employees feel more valued, motivated, and productive when they are better informed by their managers, as this allows for better collaboration, internal development opportunities, and greater transparency in terms of the overall business objectives and missions. While this may seem obvious and clear to business leaders, organisations of all sizes and complexity continue to struggle with developing the right communication solutions that bring the most out of their staff.

Some key stats from surveys demonstrate the feelings amongst both company executives and employees.

• Disengaged employees could cost organisations over USD450bn per year due to wage dollars, retraining time, loss of profit, loss of sales, and other factors (Conference Board).

• Around 30% reported poor communication as the primary cause of failing to deliver a project within its original schedule, according to a survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

• Around one-third of employees said that a lack of open, honest communication has the most negative impact on their morale (Recruiter).

• Almost 90% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures (Salesforce).

• Around 40% of surveyed employees believe that people in their own organisation do not collaborate enough (Queens University).

• Around 75% of employees believe that they are missing out on company information and news (Trade Press Services).

• Almost 60% of companies said that they do not have any kind of long-term strategy for their internal communications (Workforce).

• Globally, around 20% of executives charged with internal communications stated that they do not employ any form of formal planning. That number increases to over 30% in North America (Gatehouse).

• Only one-quarter of executives believe that their companies are competent at aligning employee goals with corporate values. (Deloitte).

• Almost 60% of employees report not being given clear directions and around 70% of managers do not feel comfortable to communicate with employees in general (HR Technologist).

• Around 55% of respondents in a VMA group study agreed that progress towards communication objectives are researched, measured, and evaluated with metrics and KPIs (VMA Group Study).

• In the UK, the cumulative cost per worker per year due to productivity losses resulting from communications barriers is almost GBP20,000 (Provoke Media).

It could be argued that business leaders have far more pressing concerns and issues at hand to give internal communications any significant consideration, but if the above stats are anything to go by, clearly businesses are haemorrhaging vital performance and productivity, which may not be readily apparent in their accounts and numbers – the silent assassin strikes again.

So why should business executives give any consideration to their internal stakeholder communications? Well, again we can look at data and stats from surveys to see the potential benefits of developing and implementing some efficacious strategies.

• Almost 90% of employees said that they are most motivated when management offers regular updates on company news (Trade Press Services).

• More informed employees outperform their peers by around 80% (CEB/Gartner).

• More than 80% of Americans say employee communication is key to developing trust with their employers (Lexicon).

• Businesses that have highly engaged employees are able to generate around 20% more profit than those that do not (Rise People).

• Employee productivity increases by 20-25% in organisations where employees are connected (Inc).

• Organisations with effective change and communication programmes are 3.5x more likely to outperform their peers (ThinkTalent).

• Businesses with effective communication strategies are 50% more likely to have lower employee turnover (Clear Company).

• Around 60% of employees feel that a strong sense of community (e.g. good colleagues, celebrating milestones, and a common mission) encourages them to remain at a company for longer (Gusto).

• “Communicating strategy, values, and purposes” was listed as a key priority by around 70% of business communicators (Gatehouse).

• Companies with highly engaged employees can improve operating income by around 20% over a 12-month period (Ving).

• According to a study performed by Watson Wyatt, businesses with effective communication practices were 50% more likely to report employee turnover below the industry average.

• Productivity improves by up to 25% in organisations with connected employees (Enplug).

Conclusions

So what can we derive from these insights into the real world problems and potential benefits of internal business communications? A cursory overview would suggest that an effective communication capability would:

• Reduce misunderstanding.

• Improve productivity.

• Result in stronger collaboration.

• Increase in knowledge sharing.

• Generate better company moral.

• Lead to higher employee engagement.

• Increase employee job satisfaction.

• Improve the overall employee experience.

• Generate better business results.