During times of crisis or change the desire to bury your head in the sand and try and ignore the changing environment can be overwhelming.
If you are a senior manager, however, failing to face-up to facts and continue to communicate openly, honestly, and regularly with your team can have a significant impact on your business, adversely affecting morale and productivity, for example, as fears for the future are escalated by the communication ‘Black Hole’
In addition, a lack of structured internal communication, particularly during hard times, can lead to distrust, as a failure to communicate with employees will lead them to feel that they are no longer valued by the leaders and companies that they work for, and will push them towards the ‘Rumour Mill’ for answers and information.
This is just the situation that is occurring across the UK, as a recent survey commissioned by executive recruitment and development consultancy Endaba, has shown that UK CEOs and senior managers are losing the battle for trust from employees.
The 5,114 employees who responded to the survey, listed the the top three reasons for this as:
- CEOs and senior managers don’t care about employees (chosen by almost 50%).
- CEOs and senior managers don’t mean what they say (chosen by around 40%).
- CEOs and senior managers don’t value the contribution employees make (chosen by around 40%)
If these facts alone aren’t enough to prompt leaders into action, then maybe this one will: 90% of respondents in the survey said that they believe that trust is impossible, or at best difficult, to rebuild once it’s lost!
For more information, read the full Endaba report: Why Trust Matters
Melitta
