An Educated View

In today's troubled economic environment, the most important thing a business can focus on is employee communication. Employees are an employers number one asset. A businesses' success depends on effective and proper communication between management and staff.

One of the biggest areas management needs to focus on is sincerity. Come off too fake or too strong and you lose credibility. Come off as insensitive and you lose moral and support. So there's a fine line that you need to follow.

A few tips for effective employee communication in today's climate:

1. Be honest and up front. News travels fast, especially gossip. Address the issue, whether positive or negative, without putting corporate spin. Nothing is worse than coming off as someone who's spewing "corporate bull."
   
2. Determine level of severity. Don't assume every issue needs to be relayed to every audience. Your sales staff may not be interested in something that your technology department is going through. On the same token, don't isolate a certain issue and assume others aren't affected.
   
3. Chose the right medium. Would an issue be better resolved via email rather than in person? Over thinking an issue could cause unnecessary concern.
4. Never undervalue the importance of your employee. From the receptionist to the VP, every employee serves a valuable role. If your front line is dissatisfied, if affects your customers.
   

Your employee should be your number one concern. An unhappy employee can do twice the damage an unhappy customer can. While both are vital to success, if the employee doesn't have confidence, how can you expect your customers to be confident? Managing gossip, reducing worry and relaying a message that is clear, concise and consistent is going to be the difference between success and happiness and a closed door.