The Gap: In large companies across the country, there’s a major communications gap.
In recent research with large employers nationwide, we found a troubling gap between what management thought employees knew and what employees said they did. In interviews with management-level people in Fortune 100 and other large companies, Tribe heard glowing reports of the vision the leadership team had formulated to lead the company to increased stability and growth. In most cases, management also indicated that they felt employees had a good understanding of their vision.

When employees don’t hear about the vision, they assume there is none.
When we asked employees about management’s vision and plans for how to move the company forward, the reports were much different. Some comments included:
• “I don’t think they have a plan. It worries me.”
• “Leadership has a plan but nobody knows how to execute it.”
• “We don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few years.”
• “I think it’s more likely they don’t have a plan.”
• “They have a plan at the higher levels, but nobody at lower levels knows about it.”
• “I don’t think our top three leadership has a plan and that makes me nervous.”

It’s a problem that doesn’t have to be a problem.
The problem is not that corporate management does not have a plan, or even that employees don’t support that plan. There’s a plan in place for moving the company forward, possibly a brilliant one, yet employees are often completely unaware of it. Some earlier research we did indicated that employees want more communication from the top, not less. Even if the news is not great news, employees feel less anxious and more confident in the company’s future when high-level management keeps them in the loop.

The solution is easy: Communicate from the top down.
Some CEO’s feel giving an occasional town hall meeting or speech to employees means they’ve checked the box of top-down communications. For better employee engagement, morale and productivity, not to mention progress toward company goals, a solid communication strategy might include a leadership blog, a regular presence on the employee website or internal portal, or a monthly update to employees. These communications vehicles don’t have to be difficult or time consuming for management.