Communication is consistently listed by chief executives and gurus alike as one of the keys to success in business (and life), and just as frequently identified by employees as a key missing link to optimum productivity and job satisfaction. So why do we hear story after story about poor communication being the rule, rather than the exception? If most leaders supported, modeled and required effective communication to the degree they talk about it, our firm and thousands of others wouldn’t be in such high demand and at least some resource-draining organizational conflict would go the way of the dinosaurs.

If decades of wisdom from industry, spiritual, government, psychology and philosophical leaders about the need for good communication don't convince you to improve leadership, interpersonal and organizational communication, maybe a visit to the Dark Side will.

Read on to review four real-world outcomes of botched leadership and communication.

Developing Mad Sacks as Customer Service Agents

Fanning the Fires That Burn Your House

Creating Expectations Lower Than the Limbo Bar

Living in the (Communication) Void

Developing Mad Sacks as Customer Service Agents

It’s become a business mantra that every employee is a customer service agent, whether they interact with clients or not. Some ‘agents’ answer phones or help recruit future superstars, while others speak with friends and family. So what happens when poor communication sends morale into the murky depths and the grapes on the grapevine go sour? You’ve lost a major sales and recruiting resource for your company.

Case in point: For six months, a department of 12 people in a medical practice office discussed ways to improve communication within their group, for the purpose of improving productivity and communication with patients. After hours of brainstorming, planning, listening and getting energized about ridding the department of its unhealthy ways, nothing changed. In particular, the department manager continued to practice the poor communication techniques that created problems in the first place. The employees felt angry and out-of-the-loop, believing nothing would improve until their manager understood that the desired organizational change begins with her own behavior. The employees re-adopted bad habits and morale sunk. The two top performers in the department left within four months, and three employment offers went sour after the candidates observed the tense atmosphere and overheard one employee telling a patient that, "things are so screwed up around here, this whole place could be gone tomorrow."

The cost: Building morale and the capacity for more productive interaction is more than just cheerleading; it’s about having a deeper interest in your workplace and your work, and providing adequate, if not outstanding, products and services. When morale plummets, your entire operation — starting with productivity and performance — begins to decay. Employees with low morale simply don’t care as much about the organization, colleagues, customers, products or services. They have little or no emotional investment, and have one of two primary mindsets: ‘I hate this place, and I’m going to let everyone know about it’, and ‘I’m getting out of here — and fast!’ At the extreme, employees who feel slighted have been known to steal products (tangible or intellectual) and sabotage operations, or actively bad-mouth the organization to clients.

Fanning the Fires That Burn Your House

With a less-than-perfect track record, a single instance of poor communication can open the doors for unhealthy labor relations, resulting in such undesired realities as negative internal and external press, picketing, and new or expanded union organizing — including for previously non-union employees.

Case in point: An executive sent a memo to employees telling them about impending front-line budget cuts because the company didn’t reach its goals. She provided no explanation of why this was occurring, who it would affect or when, or how employees could respond to this issue. There was no face-to-face interaction or other personal outreach, nor was there any involvement with the employees’ supervisors — an audience employees consistently named as a preferred information source. Employees responded angrily, and said they never received any information about the organization’s goals so shouldn’t be held responsible for not achieving them. Leaders were surprised by this reaction, and further avoided connecting with employees directly for fear of uncomfortable confrontations over issues that might not have easy or desirable solutions.

The cost: The company is already in an industry targeted for increased national labor activity, and there is now active talk of expanded union organizing and campaign activity within the organization, as well as increased labor demands, threats of delaying or stopping work flow in critical service areas, a severely fractured internal community, low morale and damaged trust, and strengthened "us vs. them" discussion. Key employee groups vie for the remaining budget pie, and the tension moves closer and closer to the points of front-line service delivery.

Creating Expectations Lower Than a Limbo Bar

We hear it regularly from supervisors and employees at a range ot organizations: "leadership says one thing, but does another," and "they always build up our expectations, and ask for our ideas, but then nothing ever happens" or "they spend two years brainstorming and planning, then expect us to shift work habits in two days simply because they announce another initiative." To build trust and fine-tune the relationships that contribute to lower turnover and high quality products, services, and initiatives, leaders and managers must follow through on promises, or provide updates on status or changes. Action must follow planning and rhetoric.

Case in point: According to fellow employees and management, one employee frequently arrives at work late, takes unapproved vacation days and only performs work that he’s asked to do. From his co-workers’ perspective, he should have been fired months ago. Management has met with this employee multiple times, put him on probation and vocalized their disappointment with his behavior. However, despite all of his infractions, this person remains employed and suffers no consequences for his poor performance or insubordination. His co-workers, on the other hand, have had to give up vacation days to fill in for him, share the bonus pool equally with him, and take on more responsibilities to pick up his slack at work.

The cost: This employee is unknowingly testing the waters for the entire group. As he gets away with unsatisfactory performance, others realize that their hard work and dedication are neither rewarded nor required. High-performing employees with strong self-motivation are angered by this situation, and instead of lowering their standards, they leave. Employees who are not as driven lower their standards to the level of the poor-performing employee. Now most of the workforce in this high-service business doesn’t have the desire to keep productivity at acceptable levels, common courtesy and collaboration plummet, and customers don’t get the products and services they expect and deserve. Over a six month period, the local press features several negative reviews and patronage -- and revenues -- decrease.

Living in a Communication Void

There is no such thing as no communication. You have a few choices: effective communication or ineffective communication; respectful communication that gets good results or disrespectful communication that keeps your organization from operating at optimum proficiency. It's true that some individuals are never happy and always complain about something, but it's costly to have incessant whining, blaming and bickering be the centerpiece of your organizational culture.

Case in point: It’s a chaotic office environment and a new employee excitedly started work. She’s a talented project manager who was desperately needed in the department, and was eager to launch her new ideas. A week went by and her supervisor cancelled project planning and goal development meetings several times. Instead, he gave her three file folders, and asked her to "work on these projects." A month later, the supervisor realized that the new employee had taken on responsibilities for which she was neither prepared nor able to complete; as a result, she had incorrectly shifted the direction of a corporate leader’s project.

The cost: Besides the obvious result of missed deadlines, incorrect or unwanted products and services, and the disappointment of the executive sponsor of the project, a potential star employee is now confused about her role and thinking about accepting another job offer, the supervisor has an increased workload (despite adding a new employee), and other employees received mixed messages from their managers. The project deadline and budget had to be expanded, and the supervisor’s credibility with the corporate sponsor is damaged and the relationship strained.

So, after years of feel-good speech rhetoric about the merits of good communication, most organizations still suffer from leadership failure to adequately fund (and model) good, rhetoric-congruent communication. As a result, there's still work to be done on behalf of more effective, productive, rewarding and, yes, bottom-line boosting communication. Take a moment to think about where poor communication is lurking in your organization. What are the costs and missed opportunities, and how can you change course to create more productive interactions?

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