Are your employees working up to their full potential or just barely meeting minimum expectations? Are you seeing a decline in resident satisfaction? Are operations just not up to par and not sure why? One issue you need to investigate is communication. Are goals and decisions getting communicated effectively and completely to those down the line? Can your front-line employees restate these decisions and goals as well as how/why they apply to them?
The decisions made at the top are important but they will not matter much if they are not conveyed thoroughly and the actions of those employees on the “front lines” are not consistent with those decisions. Upper management must clearly communicate goals, missions, and reasons behind decisions that affect employees.
Remember that childhood game “telephone”? You start with a sentence and whisper it in the ear of the person next to you and continue this process down a line of people. By the time the sentence reaches the last person, the sentence is nothing like it started out to be. Sadly, this is exactly how messages from top-level executives are conveyed; from executive to manager to supervisor to employee. By the time it reaches the employee it is not always what it started out to be.
Make sure your avenues of communication are specific, preferably written, with the same message being passed down through the ranks. Also, make sure everyone understands how these decisions affect their job and how their job performance affects the organization. Are certain changes being implemented due to new industry regulations, budgetary constraints, or for a short period of evaluation? Changes made without a reasonable explanation lead some employees to think “what are those guys upstairs thinking?” and those employees are less likely to buy into whatever changes have been instituted.
Employees need to be invested. Do they know your organization’s mission and how that plays into their job…and how that enables them to keep their job? Do they realize how they speak to or interact with people affects that mission? Do they realize as an employee, they can lose business or money for the organization and in turn lose their jobs? Employees need to know how these things affect THEM, not only how it benefits the company.
Another huge barrier to effective communication is when employees report to more than one supervisor or manager. This can be complicated when each supervisor has different priorities. Make sure priorities and tasks are consistent for each employee and there is not a conflict of “whose requests should I make a priority.” This is where clear communication of job descriptions and expectations merge with clear lines of chains of command. And most importantly, anyone in a position of authority over other employees, supervisors or managers should embrace an “open door” policy. Sound like a cliché? Well, clichés are clichés for a reason.
Being accessible to both those above and below you can enhance the flow of information, help those with questions clarify directives and promote closer working relationships. Take the time to refine your channels of communication today to prevent misunderstandings tomorrow.