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.