Provo, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/18/2014 --Management consulting firm DecisionWise released its latest research today regarding factors impacting levels of employee engagement. A key finding shows a clear gap between information available to company leadership, versus that available to line-level employees.
While this may be intuitive, DecisionWise points out, the depth of this gap may be more damaging than previously thought.
The employee engagement research team, led by Dr. David Mason, found that that the vast majority (more than 90 percent) of executives and senior managers indicate the level of communication they receive about important information in the organization is appropriate. However, only 78% of mid-level managers responded favorably, and just 68% of line-level employees responded favorably, a gap Dr. Mason points out should be troubling to leaders of organizations.
Dr. Mason stated, "This engagement study clearly indicates that while the heads of organizations may think they are communicating critical information effectively, this information often doesn't get down to the rank-and-file the way they thought it would." Dr. Mason refers to results taken from over 450,000 responses to employee engagement surveys conducted during the latter half of 2014, in which employees across multiple organizations and industries responded to three questions about organizational communication.
"We may think we are providing employees with the information they need to be successful," Dr. Mason continues, "yet nearly one-third of the line-level managers are operating either on missing information, or information that is so distorted by the time it reaches them that they cannot be effective in their roles. Think of it this way. If you look to the person on your left, and then to the person on your right, one of the three of you is not getting the message. That's a problem that leads to silos, poor teamwork, decreased quality, inefficiencies, poor customer service, and overall disengagement."
The DecisionWise study further illustrates that, despite employee engagement becoming a major focus in most organizations throughout the world, it has budged very little over the past decade, remaining flat in most industries, and even decreasing in some sectors.
About DecisionWise
DecisionWise is a management consulting firm specializing in leadership and organization development using assessments, feedback, coaching and training. DecisionWise services include employee engagement surveys, 360-degree feedback, leadership coaching and organization development. DecisionWise was founded in 1996 and is privately held. With offices in the United States and The Netherlands, DecisionWise operates in over 70 countries and conducts surveys in over 30 languages.
