Internal communicators hiding the truth, says survey

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

Internal communicators are hiding behind the media during the recession rather than telling their employees the truth leading to huge disengagement in the UK workforce according to a damning study out today.

The YouGov survey of 524 white-collar workers, commissioned by financial comms agency Financial Dynamics found that only 15 per cent of respondents felt that their employer had communicated news about job security “very well”, while 37% said communication had been poor or non-existent.

Less than half (48%) of respondents said they had a clear picture of their company’s performance, while worryingly for internal communicators, employees said the rumour mill is seen as a more trustworthy source of news than official channels of information such as company magazines and the intranet.

The survey also highlighted a large amount of negative feedback for company directors and business leaders with only 44% of employees saying their CEO shows strong, decisive leadership and only 28% saying that they trusted messages from their chief executive more than “a little”. A third (33%) even went as far as suggesting they would look for alternative employment if their manager or chief executive failed to address their concerns. This is not surprising considering two-thirds of the audience surveyed said they do not have common face-to-face time with their superiors.

Nadia Kelly, director of PR at Ask Jeeves told PR Week: “Too many companies have turned their attention to protecting their external reputations during the recession at the expense of their internal reputation. But the two need to be absolutely integrated, especially in uncertain times such as these.”

PS: The recession continues to impact many industries, with restructurings and layoffs creating concern among employees. If you think or even know your employees are demoralised, read Melcrum's three-step strategy to improving employee morale.

Key findings:

• 15% felt their employer had communicated news about job security “very well”.
• 37% said the communication had been poor or non-existent.
• 48% have a clear picture of their company’s performance.
• 33% will look for another job if their manager or CEO fails to address concerns.
• 36% agreed they were able to voice recession concerns.
• 67% do not have common face –to-face contact with bosses.

Comments

[Jo Hanlon]

Yes it's in times of challenge that our human instincts come strongly to the surface and people, management in this case withdraw to try to protect themselves as their instinct is to look good and most of them think that as the boss the team expect them to have all the answers. Many of us have learnt from experience that a problem shared is a problem halved. So wouldn't it be great if more bosses & managers had the courage to ask for input, ideas and shared reality with their staff, therefore gaining respect and more understanding, rather than worrying themselves and everyone else sick and losing good staff in good times, or their businesses in not so good times.