Just like in any relationship, poor staff communication can cause an organization to slowly deteriorate. The problem with poor communication is it can be hard to recognize before the damage is done. Tasks start falling through the cracks and blame is then passed around. 

Good communication is key to the health and well being of a company.

A Towers Watson Study found companies with highly effective employee communications tools enjoy 47% higher financial returns compared to firms with ineffective communication.

Here are 6 signs a good employee communication software could spot to nip your staff communications issues in the bud.

1. Not all stakeholders are kept in the loop

Today’s “always on” economy requires proactive staff communications. When significant decisions are made by management they should always be relayed to employees, unless they are confidential. Don't forget the non-desk workforce just because they do not have a corporate email account.

With internal communications tools that do not require a corporate email address for login, inclusiveness and transparency is assured: something as small as deciding to use a new vendor can be communicated to the proper employee or team quickly and easily.

2. Vague marching orders from management

Requests that are asked in the form of a question, such as, “Should we change our protocol when it comes to contacting customers?” will cause more uncertainty and lead to a lot of things not getting done. This especially applies to remote workers, who don’t have their bosses looking over their shoulder to check on their comprehension of the requests.

Digital employee communication tools provide two-way internal communication channels between remote workers and management to clarify those vague marching orders. No matter where the people are working, internal communication tools enable mobile collaboration to better facilitate cross-team brainstorming and decision-making.

3. Employees that are afraid to ask questions

Managers that don’t have the time or patience for their team’s questions are simply sub-optimal managers. Employees should be made to feel there aren’t any stupid questions. When workers are afraid to ask for feedback, they can make dangerous assumptions or hide mistakes until they are uncovered by management, costing your company both time and money.

High-performance cultures are highly collaborative. Leaders and managers have the personal humility to seek answers and assistance from colleagues at any level of the organization, and that help is given willingly and accepted gratefully.

Adopting an employee communication App can alleviate anxieties around confrontation by offering an online feedback process, which can be paired with in-person follow-up. 

4. Too many customer complaints

This post may be about internal communication, but constant complaints from customers could be a sign your company isn’t talking to each other. Happy employees make for happy customers, and internal communication strategies ensure your company is making this happen.

For example, featuring employees in short blog posts how they have been living your "corporate values in action" recognizes them and shows the rest of the geographically disbursed team behaviours that exemplify the company's core values. If employees see the stated values of an organisation being lived by the leadership and colleagues, a sense of trust in the organisation is more likely to be developed, and this constitutes a powerful enabler of great customer engagement.

The way your managers treat your employees is how your workers will model their behavior for your customers.

5. Uncomfortable information is withheld

Information is being withheld out of fear of rocking the boat. Don't. That information is going to get out one way or the other. You get to decide whether that information is accurate and reliable or the stuff of rumors. It may not always be comfortable to talk about change or bad news, but if you get out in front of the story, you control it and keep truth at the forefront.

Don’t leave employees to fall back on unreliable sources but use your corporate communications tool to keep your people in the know. Possessing up-to-date data is no longer a desire – it’s an expectation of your people. If they feel information is being withheld from them, they lose trust in the organization.

6. Misaligned employee and company goals

If you were to ask your workers what their goal was for the next month, would they know what to say? What about your company’s goal for the year?

If you haven’t properly communicated what you want your employees to work toward every day, how can you expect to get there?

The key is to communicate your mission often, and this can be done on a consistent, workforce-wide basis with internal communications tools. Don’t be so worried about repeating yourself, keeping focused is much more important than any possibility of being tuned out.

Without a solid internal communication strategy, poor communication can spread through an organization like a weed. Passive-aggression breeds negativity, which leads to disengaged employees. This can cause your organization to miss deadlines, leave unachieved goals on the table, or force your talent to look elsewhere for opportunities.

On the other hand, empowering your workforce with employee communication tools helps being on the lookout for these signs of poor internal communication and resolving them effectively.

Allowing mobile communication technology in the palm of the hands of your entire workforce helps you manage change in your workplace through strategic alignment.

Because ultimately best-practice communication is about being effective, not always about being proper.

Find out 9 Ways you could do better when communicating with your mobile workforce.