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Frontline Manager Communication
December 2007 | Volume 5 Issue 12
For employees, frontline managers are often the most trusted source of company information, yet many of these managers lack the communication skills needed for their critical role. Articles in this issue of CW Bulletin look at training frontline managers in effective communication, including teaching them to communicate during times of organizational change. Also be sure to check out the new column by IABC speaker James K. Gentry, “Inside Business.” The column combines Gentry’s financial acumen and journalism background to shed light on business basics for those of us who would rather focus on words instead of numbers.
Natasha Nicholson
Executive Editor
Amanda Aiello
Assistant Editor |
Features
FRONTLINE COMMUNICATION
by Adrian Cropley
There is a great deal of research around these days that makes the connection between employee engagement and good line manager communication. After all, as the saying goes, people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers.
The reality is there are many elements that make a bad manager. As communication professionals, we are not there to solve all the problems of socially challenged managers, but we do need to help them fulfill their role in effectively communicating to their people.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
by Hilary Scarlett
When organizations are going through change, be it major or minor, the most trusted source of communication for employees is nearly always their line manager. Equipping line managers to communicate well is essential, but it also has inherent challenges.
DEVELOPING LEADERS
by Jim Shaffer, IABC Fellow
Companies such as GE, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, McKinsey, IBM, FedEx and others began building their leadership engines by doing what any great team does: putting the right people in the right leadership positions in the first place. They then strengthen the leaders’ skills and knowledge and rigorously hold them accountable for hitting their operating and financial targets.
Let’s peek under the hood at these leadership engines to see how these great companies not only create but sustain leadership engines that continuously produce strong leaders.
HR ISSUES
by John A. Rubino
In my human resources consulting practice, when I ask employees about their major concerns, their primary complaint is how poorly their managers communicate with them about human resources issues, especially compensation and job performance objectives. Ensuring that effective employee communication is embedded in the company’s culture is everyone’s responsibility—from senior executives on down. However, the primary players in effective employee communication are human resources professionals and frontline managers.
Columns
Being Good for Goodness’ Sake:
CSR imagery
by Suzanne Salvo
It sees you when you’re sleeping. It knows if you’re awake. “It” is the world, and it knows if your company has been naughty or nice. The digital revolution has put a photographic device, be it a camera or camera-phone, in the hands of virtually everybody everywhere—so you can be sure someone besides Santa is constantly watching your company’s behavior. For that and other good reasons, corporate photography is looking very green this season.
by James K. Gentry
In 2002, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the most significant corporate legislation in the country since the securities laws of 1933 and 1934. The new and enhanced standards this legislation enacts were aimed primarily at publicly traded companies and accounting practices, but the act has had a surprising and significant impact on private companies and nonprofits as well, not only in the U.S., but in countries that do business with the U.S.
Unfortunately, far too many communicators have ignored SOX (as it is popularly called) and have little or no idea what it means for their organizations.
Handling Negative Feedback on Blogs
by Scott Drennan
Despite blogs’ potential for creating valuable online communities, many communicators are still uneasy with the blog format. Communicators worry about the possibility of readers posting negative comments and feedback on the company blog. Angry customers leaving stories of poor experiences for all to see or employees submitting bitter public complaints are nightmare scenarios for most communicators.
So how should we respond to negative feedback on corporate blogs? The process begins with shifting our perspective to see the risks as opportunities.
- “All About a Healthier U Wellness Launch,” Brinker International
- “Transforming Funds and Mind-sets—DB/DC Conversion,” Nyani Communication with De Beers Pension Fund
- “Green Light Program at Amcor Smithfield,” Impact Employee Communications
- “ProgressLife,” Progress Energy; LSC Communications
Related Resources provides additional articles and resources for understanding this month’s topic of frontline manager communication. You can also find some of these links alongside each corresponding feature article for quick reference. Links include:
- “Firms Step Up Training for Frontline Managers,” by Erin White
- “Reaching Employees: It’s the message and the medium,” by Boyd Neil
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