Page 110 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Steering the Ship and Inspiring the Crew C97

centage point swing in how employees at the gaining and losing firms
perceived this practice.
Here are representative comments from employees that remained
engaged as economic conditions changed for the worse and from those
that did not:

: Voices of Disengagement
Voices of Engagement
:
“Managers value your input and
:
“We need better communica-
tion . . . more timely communi-
realize you’re only human, so
cation. There are a lot of good
there is room for errors to learn
: and grow from them.” meetings at the corporate
“Communication is top-notch.
level that we do not always
It is never difficult to reach a get to be a part of, so the
manager or even the owner more information that can be
herself. There is an open dialog shared from these meetings,
between all employees that the better.”
breeds honesty and respect.” : “Don’t ever again allow
: “There’s constant communica- rumors to run wild over an
tion and openness about how extended period of time. Way
the economy or recent mergers too much time was spent on
would impact the firm. We hold speculation.”
meetings regularly, which gives : “Tough times call for lots of
all employees an opportunity to management visibility and
voice our opinions or concerns encouragement.”
about how the department can : “Tell the truth, and keep
function more effectively.” people informed.”

Leaders who attained even higher levels of employee engagement
in tough times were apparently doing a better job of keeping com-
munication open and robust. Though leaders may be hesitant to keep
lines of communication open when the future is uncertain or looks
dire, the exact opposite is called for. One executive told us that in
dealing with changes that affect employees, “I communicate early and
often. We even tell people when there is no news that ‘there is no news.’
They appreciate the candor.”