There is no question that there is more communication than ever today. In our daily lives, many of us receive a myriad of communications from multiple sources - emails, TV, podcasts, phone conversations, work meetings, the Internet… and we somehow still have time for our families. The problem, though, is that our sources of communications have clearly increased significantly, while our ability to “hear” has decreased. As the old saying goes, a good conversationalist is a good listener.
In the last week, several incidents have convinced me that we have a hearing crisis. We tend to communicate on the basis of “need to know,” rather than on a foundation of openness and participation. The most blatant example is corporate communication of layoffs. These decisions always seem to be arbitrary and made in a vacuum by consultants and HR staff that have no actual understanding of the business. This is of course the perception of the employees and to an extent, this is due to the lack of active engagement and conversation by management with staff.
We need to try new methods. For example, rather than simply laying people off, why not retain some at lower wages and let them join teams to develop new methods to reduce costs, generate new income and create new positions for themselves? Organizations that have an ongoing two-way conversation with employees will find that cutbacks, although certainly not welcomed, to not be as arduous since it will not be the first time that they have discussions with employees. Smart managers read the landscape and begin preparing employees as part of their regular communications. Even in a bad economy there is hiring, although limited. Transferring an employee to an open position in the company is a win-win situation.
A more revolutionary step is allowing employees to discuss cutbacks and recommend solutions. In other words, engage employees early on in the process to work towards a solution.
• Are there cost-saving measures that could be implemented that management is not aware of?
• Do the employees have any ideas on how to cut out costs outside of layoffs?
• Do employees have ideas about other revenue sources?
