8.2
DIRECT LEADER-TO-EMPLOYEE
COMMUNICATION STILLWORKS BEST
Contributed by Ursula Wohlfarth, inspired by research studies by the International Association of Business
Communicators (IABC), the IABC Research Foundation, and Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Also inspired by Stephen
Covey and Hendrie Weisinger.Successful leaders communicate effectively and treat employees like adults. If presented prop-
erly, they know that employees typically handle bad or negative news well. What employees
don’t handle well is uncertainty and being kept in the dark. Studies support this view and show
that companies emphasizing employee communications (e.g., viewing communication skills
as a core leadership competency or as a key criterion when promoting employees) benefit from
an 18 to 24 percent improvement in shareholder value (data from various Watson Wyatt Work
USA studies). This tool will help you plan a successful large-scale, direct employee communi-
cations strategy.
COMMUNICATION WITH FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES
Frontline leaders are pivotal senders and receivers of information within organizations. They
hold the lion’s share of responsibility for communicating with frontline staff. Companies
whose employees rank their immediate supervisors as their most desired source of information
include AT&T, BHP, Cadbury, Schweppes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Forte, GE, GM,
General Tire, Hewlett-Packard, and Telecom Australia. As a concrete example, 83 percent of
General Motors employees in the United States rank their supervisors as their most trusted
source of information.
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Frontline leaders must continually seek opportunities to share information with staff, and to
reinforce and make available information that is provided from the top levels of the organiza-
tion. Being fully understood requires that leaders open up two-way channels of communica-
tion to hear and deal with staff concerns. Thus, frontline leaders must be accessible to employ-
ees, and encourage regular feedback to ensure that communication is working. Corporate
groups also have a role to play in developing integrated communications strategies that sup-
port business goals. Therefore, face-to-face contact between senior managers and frontline
leaders is critically important.
236 SECTION 8 TOOLS FORCOMMUNICATION