Communication is obviously key in any relationship – whether personal or professional. In the workplace, communication serves two purposes: it conveys the employees’ responsibilities and builds trust between employees and upper management.
Employee morale and productivity are obviously impacted by poor communication. Have you considered the effects on turnover, customer service and project delivery?
Here are the top 3 costly results of poor communication in the workplace:
1. Employee Absences and Turnover
When communication is poor, morale is poor. When morale is poor, people don’t care. When people don’t care, they don’t show up. See where we’re going with this?
A company study from Proving Communication Impacts Business Performance shows that up to 18% of sick days and absence rates are due to a variation in communication practices, whereas when employees felt included in communication with the company, absence rates are below average.
Did you know when a valuable employee leaves voluntarily it can cost an employer up to three times the employee’s annual salary to replace them? That’s a lot of wasted money that could be fixed with a focus on better employee communication. In a study conducted by Watson Wyatt, it was found that over 50% of companies that communicate effectively are more likely to report levels of turnover below the industry average, compared to 33% with the least effective communication.
2. Customer Service
When employees are disgruntled and unhappy with their job, it shows. Everyone’s attitude is affected. Frustrated employees will create frustrated customers. If an employee doesn’t feel that there is a commitment of communication within the workplace, they will lose the commitment to get the job done.
An improvement in communication will result in an improvement in employee attitude and guess what? An improvement in customer service – which means an increase in revenue. It’s really that simple.
3. Project Delivery
We all know the phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen.” When you have a group of people working on a project together, communication is not optional – it is 100% necessary to be successful. If team members are working in silos and not sharing their status, concerns, and ideas, things will get messy. In fact, two out of three projects will end in failure.
Not only does this make the team and the company look bad, it costs money. Budgets and deadlines are put in place for a reason. If you blow it, most of the time you aren’t given a second chance.
If you DO get another chance, someone is now paying twice for a project that should have been completed correctly the first time around. Time is now also being wasted on the same project when a new one could have been started. A study conducted by the National Association of IT Professionals found that 28% of respondents cited poor communication as the main cause of failure for IT projects.
Make communication and setting proper expectations a priority for your team. Don’t take any chances that communication will just fall in to place. Communication is a thoughtful action and process. Set your team up for success by listening and collaborating on a mutually beneficial plan, such as listing which tools will be used by situation (i.e., texting for emergencies) and when to reply to all and when not to.
Amee Kent
Red e App Marketing Director
