Effective communication between employees is a key factor in achieving organizational success.
Miscommunication on any level of the organization creates a domino effect, causing not only financial damages, but also affecting employee satisfaction, motivation and productivity.
Areas for Improvement
- 60% of organizations do not have a long-term internal communication strategy. (Workforce, 2019)
- Only 15% of respondents said their companies were doing a very good job fostering communication. (Entrepreneur, 2015)
- 60% of communicators are not measuring internal communications. (Poppulo, 2017)
- Generational divides are causing problems, Baby Boomer managers and Millennial employees often clash over communication styles. (Entrepreneur, 2015)
- 40% of Millennials say Boomers are less open, and 38% of Boomers say Millennials are more honest but too brash or opinionated. (Entrepreneur, 2015)
- One in five companies is affected by ineffective communication. (HR.com, 2021)
- In 25% of businesses, employees don’t feel heard. (HR.com, 2021)
- In 2022, 73% of employees said that written communication by business leaders is effective, a 12% drop from 2021. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 72% of leaders and 53% of workers say they have been paying more attention to the tone of the message rather than what it communicates. (Grammarly, 2023)
- The five elements ranked as very important for communication are content (74% of leaders vs. 63% of workers), tone (63% vs. 54%), empathy (63% vs. 46%), mode (60% vs. 38%), and platform (66% vs 36%). (Grammarly, 2023)
Importance of Feedback
- When managers provide regular and ongoing feedback, employees are 3.2 times more likely to do a great job and 2.7 times likelier to be more engaged at work. (Gallup, 2019)
- According to 28% of workers, they need to receive feedback more frequently to understand how to do better. (Office Vibe, 2022)
- Companies that give regular employee feedback have 14.9% lower turnover rates. (Office Vibe, 2022)
- Four in ten employees are disengaged when they get no feedback. (Office Vibe, 2022)
- 69% of workers would work more if their efforts were recognized. (Office Vibe, 2022)
- 78% said that being recognized for their work makes them more motivated. (Office Vibe, 2022)
The Cost of
Miscommunication
- There is an average loss of $62.4 million per company each year because of poor communication to and between employees. (SHRM, 2013)
- Miscommunication costs smaller companies of 100 employees an average of $420,000 per year. (SHRM, 2013)
- The average cost of miscommunication is $5,200 per employee per year. (SHRM, 2017)
- Business leaders estimate their organization loses 7.4 hours a week of productive time due to poor communication. (Grammarly, 2022)
- According to estimates, miscommunication costs a 50-employee company around $625,300, a 500-employee around $6.25 million, and a 10-K-employee organization approximately $125 million, cost per year. (Grammarly, 2022)
- The average yearly cost of lost time per employee due to miscommunication is $12,506. (Grammarly, 2022)
- The total cost of miscommunication for the US economy is $1.2 trillion annually wasted in labor hours. (Grammarly, 2022)
- In 2022, 43% of business leaders reported a decrease in productivity due to poor communication, 15% more than the year before. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 42% said miscommunication impacts deadlines, and 38% said it increases costs. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 69% of workers say they experience high-stress levels because of poor workplace communication. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 19% of leaders lost business due to ineffective communication. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 68% of those who lost deals report it cost them more than $10K per deal, and 13% estimate it cost them more than $50K. (Grammarly, 2023)
- One in five employers says their brand’s credibility has eroded because of poor communication. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 22% of employees say they have considered looking for a new job due to miscommunication. (Grammarly, 2023)
Channels of Employee
Communication
- 22% of companies do not use any print channels for communication. (Gatehouse, 2020)
- 73% of respondents rated the usage of mobile as a top priority. (Sociabble, 2019)
- Video communication is rated as the top digital channel, 68% believe the usage of video will increase by 68% over the next year. (Sociabble, 2019)
- The top five most effective means of communication are email (80%), group meetings via video tools (46%), company-wide virtual or in-person meetings (45%), one-on-one virtual or in-person meetings (40%), and digital portals (30%). (HR.com, 2021)
- In today’s workspace, 82% heavily rely on email, messaging, and video tools to communicate with co-workers. (Workvivo, 2022)
- 72% of workers used asynchronous communication more in the previous year than before. (Grammarly, 2023)
Internal Communication
App Vendors
Common Employee Communication Pitfalls
- The top challenges in 2020 are excessive volume or communication (45%), hard-to-reach employees (43%), and lack of line manager communication skills (43%). (Gatehouse, 2020)
- The most common reasons for miscommunicating are lack of specificity, negative instructions, lack of urgency, lack of appropriate tone, lack of focused attention, and lack of directness. (SHRM, 2017)
- Two-thirds of employees do not receive sufficient information during corporate change. (Towers Watson, 2014)
- 30% of employees ignore their employer’s emails. (DynamicSignal, 2016)
- 66% of business leaders experience miscommunication at least once a day. (Grammarly, 2023)
- The top written communication challenges that workers face are choosing the right words to avoid offending others (71%), finding the right balance between sounding too formal and too casual (71%), spending too much time trying to convey the message in the right way (63%), and feeling unsure of the correct tone for communications (56%). (Grammarly, 2023)
- 42% of business leaders and 62% of employees say that remote work makes it more challenging to communicate with colleagues from other cultural backgrounds. (Grammarly, 2023)
Communication Leads to an Increase in Overall Employee Performance
- 62% of employees said that accessibility to company information directly affects job satisfaction. (DynamicSignal, 2016)
- 85% of employees said they are most motivated when they receive regular updates on company news. (DynamicSignal, 2016)
- 87% of employees want to work for a company that is transparent and open. (Slack, 2018)
- 74% of workers would work harder if they were better appreciated. (WHRI, 2017)
- Three-quarters of respondents to a survey agree that effective employee communication positively impacts their experience, engagement, and performance. (HR.com, 2021)
- 52% of all workers, and 64% of remote workers, say effective communication increases productivity. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 42% of employees reported experiencing increased productivity due to asynchronous communication. (Grammarly, 2023)
- 80% of leaders plan to invest in AI communication tools to boost employee productivity. (Grammarly, 2023)
The Value of Employee
Communication for Businesses
- Organizations with highly effective internal communications had 47% higher returns to stakeholders. (Tradepressservices, 2019)
- 81% of workers value open communication more than perks such as free food and gym memberships. (Entrepreneur, 2015)
- The top three activities of internal communication were corporate announcements (87%), helping employees understand the vision and strategy (88%), and encouraging two-way communications with employees (80%). (Gatehouse, 2020)
The Value of Collaboration Software
Asana recently partnered with IDC to discover the ROI of the digital workspace and how more companies can benefit from investing in and effectively using collaboration software. In analyzing the findings, the businesses that use collaboration software reported significant positive changes in employee communication that strengthened many other aspects of work.
- 82% of companies said collaboration applications help hire talent, and 76% said they help retain the talent. Companies under 1,000 employees reported 90% support in hiring and retaining talent.
- 68% of businesses stated that collaborative team applications impact productivity. Out of these:
- 77% reported faster completion of projects
- 68% noticed better communication
- 65% started developing new digital actions
- 73% could properly give recognition for finished work
Besides researching how collaboration software impacts a company, IDC also interviewed companies using Asana as their model’s foundation. They gathered data before and after using Asana and their findings only cement the significance of collaboration applications.
- Businesses that used Asana report a 437% 3-year ROI.
- It only took companies six months on average to break even.
- Organizations reported 5.5% higher net productivity per daily Asana user or 2.5 weeks more productive time per user.
- Employees had 79% more time for innovative and creative work. This amounts to 7 more hours per week per person.
- Searching for information was reduced by 55% saving about 2.5 hours per week.
- 34% more projects got delivered on time.
- The time needed to execute business processes was 42% faster.
- Client or customer satisfaction increased by 11%, whereas employee satisfaction noticed an increase of 72%.
It is essential that employees, regardless of the channel used, have open communication and through continuous feedback can help achieve organizational success.
