Embracing Employee Communication

TOPICs: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Embracing Employee Communication

Perspective is an interesting concept. Two people can look at the same situation and come up with totally different interpretations. Our perspectives are usually a product of our life experiences, and they begin to develop in early childhood. If your family was affluent your perspective on necessities is very different than a child raised in a family which constantly dealt with food shortages. What does this have to do with leadership?

I recently had an impromptu visit with one of our technicians. He was concerned that the shortage of technicians in our industry was going to limit our growth (and his opportunity to move ahead in the organization.) He was also concerned that our recruits were too raw to become productive in the future. In a matter of minutes, I explained the thinking behind our Apprenticeship Program and his role in training those raw recruits. In reality, he held the key to solving the problem he was concerned about. Sadly, no one had explained it to him before. His perspective was that we were doomed. My perspective was that we were being very proactive in a difficult hiring environment. I was able to point out several successes from our Apprenticeship Program and he left our conversation thinking about ways he could advance our training efforts on those raw recruits.

As a leader your first job is to influence people, and your most powerful tool of influence is communication. For years studies about employee satisfaction have returned the same findings; more than anything else (including money), employees value being a part of something and having a voice. A leader who doesn’t understand this concept will always underperform. If employees want information and you have the opportunity to share information in a positive way, why wouldn’t you? In the absence of positive information, employees will almost always assume the negative.

As the head of an organization, I have limited opportunities to interact directly with field employees. But when an opportunity presents itself I love sharing information they may not already know. And whenever I have the chance to address the entire company I eagerly plan what I am going to say, knowing that my passion for the company’s success is contagious and that my positive message rubs off on the employees. Employees want to believe that whoever is in charge is leading them in a positive direction and they will knock down walls for that type of leader.

I have heard the excuse that, “I don’t consider myself to be an inspiring leader.” You don’t have to be Martin Luther King, Jr. to inspire people. If you are honest and upbeat your followers will believe in your message, especially if it is designed around their needs. Before I address a group I like to imagine how I want them to feel when I am finished speaking, then design my message and delivery accordingly. I may have very little in common with a technician or installer, but I do understand that their perspective is very different from mine. My job is to address their fears as well as their hopes and give them confidence that together we are headed on the right path. That’s your job, too.