3 ways poor communication is hurting your company culture

A team’s communication practices can make or break a company’s culture. Leadership can either foster trust, inclusivity, and high performance, or create an environment where team members are confused, misunderstood, and disengaged.?

About 80 percent of communication professionals say their primary goal for their internal comms strategy is to engage employees and create a better place to work since a lack of employee engagement is their top challenge, according to a Workshop report .?

With a rise in remote work and diversity in the global workforce, more teams are working in different time zones with various communication preferences and expectations. The companies that focus on setting clear communication standards, using inclusive language, and implementing feedback loops are the companies that will see higher performance, engagement, and overall belonging in the workplace.?

Below are three ways poor communication is hurting companies’ cultures and actionable steps leaders can take to address these issues.

Unclear expectations cause misunderstanding among teams

Employees from various backgrounds who are working in remote settings may interpret information differently, which can result in production errors, team conflict, and inefficient workflows. All team members should have a clear understanding of how to communicate with others and what the company expects of them in their roles.?

To ensure clarity, leaders should establish clear roles and responsibilities by doing the following:

• Define communication channels and establish guidelines on what each channel is used for. Provide training on effective communication during employee onboarding.?
• Make sure all employees are communicating their availability and work hours by setting status updates or using calendar tools. To respect boundaries, employees should not be required to respond to messages or calls outside of work hours.?
• Communicate with employees how often they should be checking in and sharing progress updates, and what information those updates should include.??
• Create and share agendas before meetings so all team members know what to expect and how to prepare.
• Ensure managers use one-on-one meetings to talk through upcoming projects, deadlines, and priorities with employees so everyone is aligned on roles and responsibilities.
• If there are any communication expectations or guideline changes, share these updates with team members in company-wide emails, team meetings, and one-on-ones.?

A lack of inclusive communication guidelines can diminish a sense of belonging in the workplace

Without inclusive communication guidelines, employees may feel excluded and misunderstood, which can hinder collaboration and innovation. The key to building a high-performing work culture is to make sure all team members feel welcomed, respected, and valued.?

Here’s how leaders can embed inclusive language throughout the workplace:

• Provide company-wide training on the importance of inclusive language, what it looks like in practice, and employees’ roles in building and maintaining a culture of belonging.?
• Create a company-wide inclusive language guide that includes words and phrases to avoid, words and phrases to use instead, and what to say when you don’t know what to say.?
• Implement policies for non-inclusive language use and clearly explain the consequences of promoting microaggressions or discriminatory language in the workplace.?
• Since language is constantly changing, ask for continuous feedback from employees on how to make inclusive language guidelines more reflective of the diverse experiences and perspectives at the company.

One-way communication is destroying employee trust?

Employees want to be a part of creating a company’s culture, especially when it affects their careers, well-being, and overall experience at a company. When leadership avoids collecting feedback from their team, it’s natural for employees to lose trust and feel unheard and undervalued.??

To establish a feedback loop with employees, leaders can do the following:?

• Ask specific questions to encourage feedback on the company’s culture, such as, “How would you describe our company culture?" "What do you think are the strengths of our company culture?" "What areas do you think could be improved?"
• Explore multiple forms of receiving feedback through anonymous surveys, team meetings, and one-on-one meetings since team members have different communication styles, preferences, and comfort levels.?
• Actively listen to employees' concerns and repeat the feedback they give you to ensure there’s clarity and alignment.?
• Give regular updates to employees on how the company is implementing their feedback and the goals you hope to achieve. If the company is unable to make changes that employees suggest, explain why not and when leadership will revisit the topic.?

Leaders should always model the behavior they expect from their team. By practicing inclusive and effective communication, investing in education, and listening to feedback, leaders can build trust, engagement, and performance within their organizations.?

Learn more about building a high-performing work culture?

Perfeqta has created free resources for company leaders who want to improve engagement and a sense of belonging in their cultures.?

Download our latest white paper, “Reimagining the way we work” for strategic tips on how to embed DEI in talent programs to improve performance.?