Why communicate?

What is trust? Communication? Responsibility?

Wikipedia defines trust as “a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law, and their previous promises.” It then goes on to say that “Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_(social_sciences)

Communication is defined as “the process of transferring information from one source to another. Communication can be perceived as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings, or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication

Wikiepedia defines responsibility under several different categories such as corporate responsibility, media responsibility, moral responsibility, and social responsibility. For this discussion I will use Webster’s definition which states “the quality or state of being responsible” and as “something for which one is responsible”.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/responsibility

From my perspective, these three items go hand in hand. Communication leads to trust which then leads to responsibility. Yesterday I was looking up some information for one of my classes and ran across a link that lead me to the concept of Internal Marketing. Some of you may be thinking, ‘why yes. I’ve known about that for years!’ however the company that I have worked for over the 10 years does not practice internal marketing so until recently I have not been exposed to it.

Wikipedia does such a great job of summarizing internal marketing. If you are interested in learning more about it, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_marketing
Internal marketing is when the company markets itself and the jobs it offers to potential and current employees. This is designed to “motivate and empower employees at all levels to consistently deliver a satisfying customer experience”. For years I have believed that a happy employee leads to happy customers and a prosperous business, but how to get management to listen? Some of the benefits listed are:
· Encourages employees to perform better
· Empowers employees and gives them accountability and responsibility
· Creates common understanding of the business organization
· Encourages employees to offer superb service to customers by appreciating their valuable contribution to the business
· Improves customer retention and individual employee development
· Creates good coordination and cooperation among departments of the business

Image a workplace that encourages contributions from employees. A place where individuals and groups work together for the betterment of the business and the customer. A place where individuals enjoy working.

This all brings me back to my original question, “what is communication, trust, and responsibility?” When a business utilizes Internal marketing, management and employees communicate freely with one another. Trust is developed and nurtured between them and the employees are given responsibility and relied upon to know and perform their jobs without micromanagement. Unfortunately I do not work for a company that utilizes Internal marketing. Here the employee’s suggestions are ignored or stolen by management (yes, stolen). Employees are not trusted to do their jobs. Flex time is not allowed since management would not be able to watch over us; and there is little to no cooperation between departments. I mean, they have even blocked employees from using Twitter! Just try to find out what is involved in the latest software upgrade. If you are lucky, you are ignored. If you are unlucky, you are counseled on poor internal relationship skills. When will management realize that trust given is trust received? And that when the employee is expected to act responsibly, they usually do? It all comes down to proper communication between the employer and the employee. Without that, the house of cards comes tumbling down.

Relationship Dynamics – Part 2

The next phase is the Expansion Phase. This is when the relationship moves from one of exploration to one of rewards and exchange between partners. During the exploration phase, both partners become more dependent upon the other. The employer understands that in order to have a productive business the employee must be valued and encouraged. The employee understands that in order to have a nurturing and rewarding work environment, he/she must be willing to work hard and to participate in the company growth. Both partners have made concrete commitments to each other, taking on not only risk, but also the rewards that come from the association.

Many businesses today expect the employee to give and give and then give some more; often with no thought to compensation. The employer believes that the employee will do whatever is necessary to retain their job. For some employees this may be true. These employees have fallen into a rut where a job is simply worked, with no rewarding benefits. At the same time, these employees will not provide positive feedback to the employee, nor will they be willing to become a part of growing the business. The employer can expect the employee to do only what has been asked and no more. In order for the employer to have employees that strive to do their best there needs to be some consideration given, some reward for all of the hard work that the employee has done. This may be a bonus, a larger than normal pay raise, verbal/written recognition for a job well done, or even consideration that the employee has a life outside of work, and thus expecting 50-60 hours/week every week is unrealistic.

This attitude, if carried through by both parties, leads to the final phase, Commitment. Commitment is the lasting desire to maintain or preserve a relation that has value for both parties involved. In order to reach this phase, both parties must have fully bought into the relationship. They then share a common belief in the company as a whole, and in the job that is being performed. In addition, resources are dedicated on both sides to help facilitate the other parties’ well-being and happiness. Commitment enables the relationship to survive either party’s mistakes, a willingness to forgive.

Unfortunately, there are many times where one, or both, of the parties involved decide to dissolve the relationship. Perhaps the employee is not giving their all to the job. Perhaps the employer is making expecting 60 hours a week when the employee has other commitments outside of the job that must be kept. It could even be that the employee wants to be an integral part of growing the business, but the employer, for whatever reason, feels compelled to not listen. There is a multitude of reasons why a relationship is dissolved; however such actions invariably cost both parties money, time, resources, and emotional stress.

In these current economic times, it is in everyone’s best interests to move to a commitment phase in the relationship. The employer should find out why the employee is under-performing. Perhaps their manager is mismanaging them. It could be that the employee is stuck in a job that they do not like. There is always a reason and it usually takes very little to find out what that reason is. In return, the employee should strive to always perform their best, regardless of what job they are doing. This will help to ensure that the employer is willing to listen when issues do arise. Be aware though, that some situations are just plain toxic. If this is the case then the relationship should be immediately dissolved, whether it is the employer or the employee who dissolves the relationship. A happy employee is a productive employee. In return, a productive employee makes for a happy and prosperous employer.

Relationship Dynamics - part one

Doing some homework a few weeks ago for one of my marketing classes, I started reading about B2B relationships and how those relationships evolve.  I ‘discovered’ something interesting – the same concepts can be applied to the relationship between employer and employee.

The Model of Relationship Development has for phases:

1.     Awareness

2.     Exploration

3.     Expansion

4.     Commitment

 

1.     During the Awareness phase, employer and possible employee independently consider the other as an exchange partner.  “Do I really want to work for this company?”  “Is this the right person to hire for the job?”  These are just a few of the questions that each side asks during this phase. 

 

2.     The employer makes an offer, the employee accepts offer and the relationship moves into the Exploration phase.  During this phase, both parties begin to probe and test each other.  The employer is looking to see what type of payoff they’ll be getting for their investment of a salary, while the employee is looking to find out if the benefits are worthwhile, what type of advancement opportunities are there, and even if they like the people they now are working with. 

 

During this phase there is attraction which is the degree to which the interaction between the employer and employee yields them net payoffs in excess of some minimum level.  So as an employee I’m asking, “what am I getting out of this job?”  The payoff can be both tangible – I’m getting a salary, and if I’m lucky I might even get a bonus; and intangible – I have developed some good friends at work.  The employer will be looking for quality work, insightful input into the company that will help generate new business, and a trustworthy employee.

 

Communication and bargaining also begins during this phase.  The employer says that now everyone has to work an extra hour per day without pay, the employee says – what do I get out of it?   In order for the bargaining to be successful, each party must view the other as a valuable resource and be able to generate some type of meaningful gain out of the deal.  Without that the employer tells the employee that they get to keep their job and the employee tells the employer to find some other schmuk to work for them.

 

Unfortunately many employers take more time building dynamic relationships with their vendors than they do with their employees.  In today’s society employers feel that there is always someone else out there who can do the job – thus they don’t have to partake of the bargaining phase of the relationship.  What employers forget is that much of the value the employer has in the employee is intangible – they work well within the company, a good team player, able to take on additional projects and complete them, helping the company to generate new revenue making ideas.  There is no guarantee that the next person they hire will be able to fit this bill, plus they have the added expense of finding, hiring, and training the new person.

 

Many such employers believe that they hold the power in the relationship.  Power is the ability of one party to make the other party do what party two would not otherwise do.  When power is out of balance, there is no justice – the rendering of what is merited or due.  When power is out of balance there is no healthy, living, growing relationship.  What is forgotten is that without the employee there is no business.  How can a business be run without employees?  Employers and employees both need to get back to the basics of relationship building.  Become aware of each other as potential partners and explore the unique characteristics and the potential of a mutually beneficial relationship.  

Tonia

For those interested, I have been reading from the following book:

Dwyer, F. R., & Tanner, J. F. (2006). Business Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.