WEEKLY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What do communication, feedback, and performance management look like in your organizations
and fields? Do they promote a healthy organizational culture?
2. What biases exist that hinder equity? How can you remove them?
3. How would you reinvent feedback and performance management, and why?
ARTICLE/TEXT:
Berger, B. (2014). Read my lips: Leaders, supervisors, and culture are the foundations of strategic
employee communications.
KEY POINTS:
Three foundation stones are crucial to strategic employee communication —the qualities and
influences of 1) leaders, 2) front-line supervisors, and 3) organizational culture.
Identifies 17 reasons organizations ignore the research findings and include a list of 48
checkpoints that practitioners can use to assess the relative strength of their organizations’
communication foundations.
The most important implications for employee communication professionals, then, are to 1)
assess the strength and quality of the foundation stones in their organizations, 2) strategically
attend the weaknesses or gaps discovered in the audit, and 3) continuously promote ideas and
approaches that enrich the communication culture and improve the communication knowledge
and capabilities of the professional team, supervisors, and leaders at all levels.
NOTES/KEY CONCEPTS:
Background/Context: Decades of research confirm that leaders, supervisors, and organizational culture
are crucial foundation stones for strategic employee communications. Yet, many organizations have
weak communication foundations and don’t act on this research knowledge. As a result, levels of
employee trust, engagement, retention, and other performance indicators remain distressingly low. This
article explores these three foundation stones, identifies 17 reasons why organizations ignore the
research findings, and include a list of 48 checkpoints that practitioners can use to assess the relative
strength of the communication foundations in their organizations.
The early history of strategic employee communication dates back more than 80 years when researchers
at the Western Electric Company in Chicago discovered that a worker’s performance improves not
because of workplace variables but rather because of interaction with employees. In the early
1950’s,this idea was further established when Pelz found that the most crucial feature for supervisors
wasn’t style, but rather power—defined as having a voice with, being listened to by executives, and
being empowered with strategic information. Although these earlier studies provided clear guidance for
employee communication practice, few research studies have been conducted to explain why
organizations don’t embrace this research knowledge and act on it. This is surprising because such an
embrace could lead to real payoffs in productivity, engagement, retention, and financial returns, as well
as in social relations and cultural richness.
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Therkelsen (2014) researched and then crowd-sourced a long list of reasons for failed or disappointing
results in employee communication. He grouped them into organizational, personal/individual, and
systemic categories, and 17 of these reasons are listed below. Organizational factors refer to political,
structural, and cultural barriers that impede employee communications. They are often linked to the
perceptions, beliefs, and practices of top leaders in an organization. Here are some examples:
1. Top leaders place a higher priority on outside constituencies.
2. Top leaders and supervisors are often promoted based on their functional expertise, not real
leadership skills and qualities.
3. Top leaders believe their organizations are already doing a good job in employee communication
using conventional approaches and exerting control.
4. Top leaders believe that relying on supervisors and middle managers for effective
communication removes control from senior management and from public relations.
5. Supervisors are neither viewed nor trained as crucial participants in the employee
communication process.
6. Leaders’ and supervisors’ communication objectives and responsibilities are often nonexistent or
soft in job descriptions and performance plans—they are not measured or measurable.
Individual factors refer largely to communication practitioners’ capabilities and qualities or
formal communication roles and responsibilities, e.g., supervisors. Some examples include:
7. Communication leaders are not included in strategic decision-making processes.
8. Communication managers have a professional bias in favor of conventional channels.
9. Professional communicators are unwilling to change their own practices or worldviews about
employee communication.
10. Professional communicators lack the skills, knowledge, or motivation to sell the need for
effective programs, or measure results.
11. Supervisors feel ill-equipped to lead and communicate because they lack the training,
endorsement, support, and content or strategic information to do so. Systemic reasons refer to
educational and professional structures, values, and practices that support the communication
profession.
12. PR education programs focus on complex or technical skills development and don’t arm
practitioners to sell their ideas to management or understand organizational politics.
13. Professional associations focus on skills development and social networking rather than
leadership development.
14. All-way communication and dialogue in organizations demand responsiveness, accountability,
and action that many organizations simply can’t deliver.
15. Employee communication is not recognized in MBA and other management training programs.
16. Development of so-called soft skills—listening, conflict resolution, and change management
capabilities—are absent in most educational and professional structures.
17. Professional and educational programs place more attention and value on external constituents
than employees or members.
In short, employee communication programs fail for many reasons, most of which are linked to the
three foundation stones. Some issues are more easily overcome than others. For example, practitioners
can learn how to measure and analyze results through training or contract with specialists to provide
these capabilities. On the other hand, changing the world views or practices of leaders and supervisors
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who aren’t convinced of the importance of internal communications, or who are reluctant
communicators, is far more difficult.
The following list of 48 checkpoints can be used for a general audit. Based on the literature, each of
these points represents a marker or characteristic of the foundation stones.
Leaders and Employee Communication
The top leader(s) in my organization:
1. Is visible to employees(members)
2. Is a good listener
3. Is trustworthy
4. Is empathetic and encourages employees to voice opinions and suggestions
5. Understands the importance of two-way communication
6. Involves others in decision-making
7. Walks the talk
8. Models the way in terms of communication behaviors
9. Uses F-T-F communication for change and strategic information
10. Supports communication training for executives and supervisors with necessary resources
11. Considers communication skills essential in hiring new executives
12. Provides sufficient contextual information in change communications
13. Links employee communication outcomes with organizational goals and results
14. Incorporates measurable communication accountabilities in performance management programs for
executives
Supervisors and Employee Communication
Supervisors in my organization:
15. Are available and visible to work unit personnel
16. Are good communicators
17. Are trustworthy
18. Listen and respond to employee concerns
19. Provide regular and specific performance feedback to those in their work units
20. Recognize the contributions of those in their work teams
21. Engage employees in decision-making processes
22. Use F-T-F communication as the primary form of interaction with employees
23. Help employees understand how their jobs align with organizational goals
24. Are trained/equipped with essential communication skills and capabilities
25. Are consistently armed with message points and content for new initiatives or changes
26. Are held accountable for employee communications through measurable performance management
objectives
27. Care about individual employees and their welfare
28. Help employees prepare and develop for the future
29. Model the way in terms of communication behaviors
Organizational Culture and Employee Communication
In my organization:
30. Two-way symmetrical communication is the norm
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31. Multiple channels are used to share information and best practices
32. The communication climate is positive
33. Diversity is practiced
34. Gender equality is real
35. Employees feel free to speak up about issues and concerns
36. Employees are empowered to make decisions
37. Employees are fully engaged in their work
38. Leaders are sensitive to employee development needs
39. Information is readily accessible
40. Employees are treated fairly
41. Individual and team achievements are recognized and celebrated
42. Employees share a clear vision of the future and what it takes to get there
43. Employee communications programs are linked to organizational goals or results
44. Social media channels with two-way, interactive features are used to share best practices, promote
employee participation, and build organizational identity
45. The effectiveness of employee communication is measured regularly
46. Employees understand how their jobs align with organizational goals
47. The professional communication team is a positive force for change
48. There’s a shared belief that internal communication helps drive organizational success
