We all know the importance of good communication in our personal relationships and the positive impact it has on our lives. So it’s important to remember that open, clear and ongoing communication in a business setting has just as many benefits that leads to better profits. In fact, it’s been reported that companies with effective communication strategies see 47% higher total returns to shareholders. Here, we’ll take a closer look at the very real cost of poor communication with employees and offer a few ways to improve your internal communication strategy, and in turn, the health of your business.

How Does Employee Communication Affect Your Bottom Line?

Poor communication can have several adverse effects on your business, and all of these issues result in one common thing—less profit.  Here are just a few of the issues that can arise and end up impacting your bottom line.

Weakened culture

A breakdown of communication can cause a collapse of company culture when employees don’t feel engaged. The Gallup State of the American Workplace report put it succinctly: “Actively

disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work—they are resentful that their needs aren’t being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.” These disengaged employees can be a drag on productivity, morale and profit. Inversely, a Gallup study of nearly 200 organizations reported that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement were 22% more profitable and 21% more productive than those with low levels of engagement.

Decreased employee productivity

Even when your employees are engaged and striving to do their best, if you don’t have the proper communication channels set up, productivity can still suffer as they’ll waste time looking for vital information or have to take the time to redo something if they weren’t clear on a process or protocol to begin with.

Higher employee turnover

When employees don’t feel like they’re connected to company culture or are confused about their role and what’s expected of them, turnover is likely to follow. Employee retention and profitability go hand-in-hand because employee turnover is costly. As studies have shown, it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement, while other research suggests that it costs as much as three times their salary. So eliminating poor communication as a reason for employee discontent can certainly save you money in the long run.

How You Can Improve Your Communication and Your Profits

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of employee communication, let’s take a look at some ways you can better internal communication in your business.

Utilize communication channels and techniques

The first step to clear communication is establishing the foundation for how you will communicate with employees. Take advantage of technology resources that can make it easier to connect and establish a clear flow of how information is disseminated within your business. Additionally, make sure there’s an emphasis put on communication in your company culture. Expert Laquita Clear advises to “create a culture of communication within your organization” and to “establish new processes that focus on effective communication education and commit to maintaining awareness for the long-term.”

Ensure your employees have a voice

Making sure your employees are heard can go a long way in improving your culture of communication. This is vitally important given that as many as 78% of employees say they’d work harder if their contributions were recognized. And as we previously noted, employees feel more connected to and invested in your business when they feel listened to and heard. Setting up an ongoing way to collect their feedback and ideas can be as simple as an old-fashioned suggestion box, dedicated email address or a Slack channel where people can easily collaborate.

Create consistent training

Finally, getting everybody on the same page when it comes to communication starts with training. As we discussed in an earlier post, proper training ensures they feel connected to your business from day one and they can better communicate your brand story and make customers feel even more connected.

There are more ways to increase revenue with improved employee communication, but we hope these ideas are a good jumping off point for your business. For more on how Push can help with your education marketing efforts, contact us here or call 407-841-2299.