Corner Office: Keep Employees in the Loop

Sept. 18 -- The flight was scheduled to leave at 8:20. The sign at the ticket counter shows that the flight is on time. But it's now 9:10 and the flight hasn't even boarded. Why? Is the weather bad? Are passengers waiting for new safety instruction cards to arrive from the printer? Are the pilots drunk? No one knows.

As the minutes pass, passengers grumble. Tempers flare. Shouts are exchanged.

"Are we boarding in two minutes, or can I go eat?" one passenger fumes. "I wish they'd tell us what the hell is going on."

Your employees are the passengers on your airline: They want to know what's going on. If they don't know, morale stays firmly earthbound. They aren't quiet about it, either. Do you want your employees venting to customers, "Management never tells us anything"?

Now, a dose of reality: It isn't possible to keep all the people happy all the time. (In fact, it's not even a sensible goal.) There always will be people who claim they didn't know, or didn't know soon enough, or found out the "wrong" way. Some employees will seek information, while others remain passive and expect to be spoon-fed. A few will claim they didn't know, even if they really did.

So why bother to keep employees in the loop? Because most employees will appreciate it. Because keeping employees in the loop is too important to ignore. And because it's a big part of your job.

Take Action

Remember, it's about them. Listen to the questions that employees ask when they get new information. Almost all of them will be some variation of, "What does that mean to me?" Employees naturally want to know what to expect and what's expected of them. Does it mean longer hours? A bigger bonus? No bonus? More responsibility? Different tasks? Focus on how employees will be most affected, and be straight with them about it.

Provide context. According to the polls we've taken in organizations, most employees say that management's decisions are arbitrary and poorly considered. That belief reflects the fact that employees are rarely given any context for the information they get. As abstractions, many decisions do seem arbitrary. Employees are more likely to reward you with patience and support if they understand the thinking behind decisions.