The No. 1 skill great companies hire for and continue to develop on the job is interpersonal communications. Whether it is face-to-face giving instructions, facilitating team meetings, or making a formal presentation before a large audience, companies want employees who can get results and represent them well. Communication can be through phone calls, e-mails, memos, letters, manuals, reports, tweets or Facebook posts. But no matter the media, it is important to communicate clearly so that the communication – written or oral – leads to desired outcomes.
The good news and the bad news…
The good news – Companies that have highly effective internal communications had 47% higher total returns to shareholders over the last five years as compared to companies with the least effective communication (Towers Watson). The bad news – Businesses with 100 employees spend an average down time of 17 hours per week clarifying communication. This translates to $528, 443 in annual costs (360solutions).
But, there can be other costs. Poor communication leads to workplace accidents, lawsuits, poor morale, absenteeism, high turnover, wasted time, wasted resources, lost productivity, lower profits, loss of customers…and so on. It isn’t a pretty picture.
And, to be honest, things are getting worse, not better. Recent graduates are entering the workplace with fewer communication skills than ever before. More cross-national business dealings and international work teams add to the mix. And the increased use of messages via e-mail, Twitter, instant messaging, and texting has reduced communications to abbreviations with no thought to grammar or sentence structure. This means that organizations must step up and address the problem – to be more profitable, have more cohesive teams, increase productivity, and create the image every successful company aims for.
SyN recommends these classes to develop employees’ ability to communicate, both inside and outside the organization: