Truth 62. Engaged employees need to know more

When employee engagement is driven throughout the company as an organization-wide initiative, the corporate communications (corp comm) office almost always gets in on the action. In fact, because communications is such a core element to engagement, employee engagement is often driven by the corp comm office. For companies that see the value of sending corporate engagement messages and information throughout the ranks, this makes obvious sense. (It makes even better sense, however, when the HR and organizational effectiveness departments are allowed to collaborate with corp comm as equal partners in the initiative. As companies get increasingly sophisticated in understanding all the complex facets of employee engagement, corp comm will eventually support HR and organizational effectiveness, rather than lead it.)

Because employee engagement promotes a sense of ownership among engaged employees, they have a compelling need to know what’s going on throughout the company. They have a stake in the outcome of the company’s various projects, so they deserve to know how their efforts are paying off. Engaged employees take their roles inside their company very personally. So, they want to know how the company is being perceived by the community and in the media. They want to be reminded of what makes their job at their particular company better than their job at a different company.

This isn’t a sense of entitlement that they expect to be catered to. They’re pouring their passion and lives into their work. Therefore, they deserve to know what’s going on throughout the entire company. And corp comm is there to make that happen.

This isn’t entitlement; they deserve to know what’s going on.

Let’s say you don’t have the services of a communications department specifically dedicated to unifying all your company’s employees through a common channel of messaging. Suppose that you’re on your own. You can still keep your employees in the know. You’ll just have to do it yourself:

• Make a point of letting them know every single detail you can about what and how the business is doing. Obviously, you’ll be under some restrictions now and then—a planned merger, for instance, that can’t go public until the companies are ready for it to go public to everyone. But it’s a safe bet that companies generally can tell their employees much more than they do. Most of the time, it’s simply an oversight. You don’t have to make that mistake. Develop the habit of asking yourself if each and every development that crosses your desk is something that you can share with your people.

• Tell them before they can find out any other way. Don’t let your employees get essential company news from the local television, their neighbors, or their stock broker. If the buzz is big enough to hit the grapevine, make sure your employees are among the first to find out from you.

• Answer all questions fully and honestly. If you want to nurture a workplace culture of individuals who own a stake in the company’s success, they need to know that they can trust you for the straight scoop. Don’t try to sugarcoat bad news. Tell it exactly as it is.

• Give them room to speak freely. Communication works only when it works both ways. Give employees the chance to speak freely within the circle of your department without fear of reprisals. This way, you’ll know what’s on their minds. You’ll have the chance to respond to all their concerns. And you can correct misconceptions.

If you want your employees to give their all to their jobs, you must be willing to give your all to them.

Engaged employees are high maintenance when it comes to requiring all the news and facts about their company. Can you blame them? They’re being asked to provide their utmost of dedication, inspiration, and energy to their company. And over the years, they’ve seen examples of trust that was misplaced, with employees coming out the worse for their dedication.

If you want your employees to give their all to their jobs, you must be willing to give your all to them—especially all the company information that’s fit to share. That way, they’ll be better positioned to make informed, adult decisions—one of which, preferably, will be to stay and continue giving their all for the company.