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Workplace Communication: Even If Your Employees Like You, It May Not Be Enough

It’s the question every manager has asked her or himself at some point in their career: “Do my employees like me?”

Based on research published in our 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR), only 57 percent of employers feel confident that their employees “have a great relationship with their direct managers.” But if you’re an employer losing sleep over this question, maybe you can rest a little easier; our CBPR research shows that 67 percent of employees feel they have a great relationship with their manager.

Hooray! So now you can take a load off, right?

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Not so fast. Again, based on research published in our CBPR, even though more than two-thirds of employees feel that their relationship with their manager is “great,” they still feel there’s room for improvement when it comes to communication between their managers and themselves. Only slightly more than half (55 percent) of employees we surveyed feel they have “frequent, two-way communication” with their managers. Conversely, and perhaps a little worryingly, 63 percent of employers believe there’s an adequate amount of two-way communication between managers and employees.

As a manager myself, I can relate; it was recently made clear to me by a direct report that while our relationship is “great,” we needed to do a better job communicating in the workplace.

The point? Even if your employees feel they have a great relationship with their managers, there’s always room to improve. If you’re a manager yourself, make sure you’re setting aside ample time for two-way communication with your employees. And if you work in HR and/or structure your company’s professional climate, encourage the same.

And speaking as a manager, the better and more frequent your communication with your reports in general, the easier it is when it comes to communicating the tough stuff. (*cough* compensation *cough*)

The number one reason people leave their job is because of a bad relationship with their manager. So it’s crucial for employers to do all they can to ensure the relationship between managers and their reports are solid.

From the CBPR:

… great managers can indeed be a port in the storm for employees. At the best of times, this can be a boon to the organization. A phenomenal manager who leads, inspires, instructs, and supports can counterbalance even the direst of organizational climates. These managers are diamonds in the rough and should be cherished by the companies lucky enough to have them.

Looking for more best practices? Check out the Compensation Best Practices Report!

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Do these stats line up with your experience? Tell us your story in the comments.

 

 

 


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Usama Sayed

In other words also I faced many cases refused to leave their jobs to another with higher salary because of good employees-managers relationship and the social activities of the company.

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