For Employees, Ignorance Isn’t Bliss -Communication Is an Asset, but It’s Scarce at Many Companies

An employee at the America Online
campus in Dulles told me last week
that if management had kept her and
her colleagues up to date on
happenings before and after the
company’s merger with Time Warner
Inc., AOL likely would have much
happier employees.

By Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writer

An Arthur Andersen employee said
the same thing when she was laid off
as the company faced a criminal
charge resulting from the Enron Corp.
debacle. The less the front-line
employees were told, the more
rumors flew.

All the employees wanted was a little
communication. Was that so much
to ask?

They would be happier, they would
understand what it was they were
working for, and they would trust the
employer they toiled for every day.
Those are results most employers
would want. Happy employees equal
good workers. And just as any
relationship guru would tell us, the
key to happiness is to communicate,
communicate, communicate.

But it’s not always that easy, neither
from the top down nor from the
front-line employees up.

First, there is the worry about leaking
too much information to employees.
So the company has changed its
books to make it look as if there’s
more profit rolling in. Should
executives just casually mention this
at the Monday morning meeting?

That’s probably not going to happen.
But a few chats here and there
wouldn’t hurt anyone — as AOL
seemed to realize, at least in part,
according to the employee who
talked to me.

When AOL staff completed this
year’s employee survey, which asks
how happy and satisfied they are, the
results were miserable. Unhappiness
everywhere, said the worker who
talked to me. Employees didn’t know
which higher-ups were being ousted,
who the new executives were, or why
these changes were taking place. So
after the surveys came back, the
company began to send out e-mails,
hold meetings and in general just tell
employees more about what was
going on.

"For several months, I really had no
idea where the company was going.
Since the survey results seem to have impacted senior management on a pretty
big scope, they seem to acknowledge there’s a problem," said the
twentysomething, who didn’t want her name or department disclosed. "People
are having meetings all the time, letting people know what’s going on." For the
first time, she said, employees feel their voices were heard, and some good —
this burst of communication from management — came of it.

Of course, communication can be difficult. Sometimes it takes too much energy,
worry and effort to tell employees why something is happening in upper
management or how it may affect their jobs. It may be a little too difficult to tell
employees why they just don’t seem to be doing their jobs right, or that it is
really annoying when they wear those bright yellow pants.

Whatever the communication block, life at work would probably be a lot more
productive and simply better if employees knew a bit about what’s going on, or
what their employer thought needed to be fixed or changed.

Up to 75 percent of employees leave their jobs because of communication
problems, according to Steven Gaffney, author of "Just Be Honest: Authentic
Communication Strategies That Get Results and Last a Lifetime" (JMG
Publishing, $19.95), and who also offers communication training to corporations.

It doesn’t have to be that way, Gaffney says.

Communicating with employees isn’t a touchy-feely thing that may turn some
employers off. Gaffney says it is something that can have a powerful effect where
it matters: the bottom line.

He told me the story of a friend of his who lost her job because she was doing
the job she thought she should be doing, not the job her boss wanted her to do.
She could blame that problem on her boss — after all, the boss should explain
what he or she needs. But, Gaffney points out, if you feel something is amiss,
it’s also your job as an employee to talk to the boss and ask what is going on.

Doing so would be easier in a company that promotes a culture of truth, he said.
The less an organization tells its employees, the less the employees will
probably tell the boss.

Executives, he said, can "demonstrate honest communication" by delivering
news, even when it’s bad. By telling everyone they had a great company, the
executives at Enron were saying they believed in a culture of dishonesty, Gaffney
said.

Employers need to be willing to "listen without punishment," Gaffney said, so
that employees will feel comfortable talking to them about things employers are
not aware of.

That is why Host Marriott Corp. of Bethesda has tried to open the lines of
communication between managers and employees. In fact, it is one of many
corporations that have used Gaffney’s communication training.

"We know that great leaders of people are essential to our organization," said
Michele DiMartino, vice president of executive talent management and
organizational capability at Marriott. "They are the primary interface with hourly
and other associates. They find it incredibly important to hear timely information
from them."

Meetings and even quick chats among employees and managers help Marriott
executives assess what is going on at particular properties and what might be
done to make things better. And, DiMartino said, the more communication
among the employees and managers, the better the workplace will be. It follows
from there that the clients will be happier.

Employees "who feel like they are well informed about the culture and strategy,
they’re happier here overall," DiMartino said.

Are you an office gossip? Do you seek out office gossip? Or are you a manager
who has tried to figure out what to do with that office gossip? Fess up and talk to
Amy. [email protected].

Join her Tuesday for a live discussion at washingtonpost.com from 11 to noon.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8559-2002Jul27.html