Captain Niit's log: Communication key to success.

Lack there off... a recipe for stagnation, and possibly disaster..

HR departments around the world you have been warned..there will come a day, when good quality workers becomes a rare commodity. If you then, have missed out on even the weakest of links, that seemed irrelevant when times where bad, the chain of trust is broken, and you'll miss the train of success.

Corporations of today, are so big, and under so much strain, that people get too much responsibility, over things that they sometimes have no clue about. That makes them having their mind focused on their own survival, covering ass, and trying to stay afloat instead of perform well on their actual work.

Rule number one..."Keep your head down, do not cause ripples".

Photo curtesy dreamstime.com

And out goes all great values, company policy statements and quality of operation. It is all there, stated in black and white, written by CEO's / MD's etc, the recipe for success, but unfortunately not achieveable or followed.

Businesses, big corps. of today have lost focus. They should stick to the basic human factor, and achieve well.

Intelligent people understands that we are all humans, with human weaknesses, limitations and desires, regardless of pay check. That is why, in all types of management, a clear vision, good structure, and most importantly a good dialogue with all members of staff, all the way down the line is essential.

There are kilometers of shelve space written on how to make your employees tick(and here comes another one , you think reading this..). But hear me out.. I will not dwell on "how we all tick", but rather on the basic fact that communication is one very big contributor of homosapiens dominance and success(could be argued) in our world. Yet this basic simple fact is not used, but rather abused in today's corporate organizations.

Being President is easy, with good "Intel" and staff, but the further from the operation, or production side of things you are, you have to rely on "middle management". More reliability must be put on middle management. They are the eyes and ears of decision making. They need to have the ability to communicate, and the desire and ability to venture into all aspects of the production or operation. Most importantly they must have the confident, spine and guts to stand up for the truth, and convey to top management what the real situation is, regardless of the risk of having to face discomfort and even disciplinary action(again due to incompetent top management, wanting to pursue a corrupt lie, and who manage by ignorance, incompetence and possibly creating fear).

How can you truly understand the full potential of your work force, and their capabilities if you do not interact? There are organizations out there, where management reviews and appraisal procedures are merely tools of tick box maneuvers. Because if you do not have that genuine dialogue, communication which create respect and understanding..it will fall flat as the paper it is written on..What baffles me is that there are so much good money, thrown after bad, when mismanagement is so blatantly clear to so many people, yet this charade continues...why...because there is a "gap" in communication.

Decision making is often not based on reality, but out of one, maybe more people's dreams and visions.

Why run after the big money fast, when you could secure success in a slower but longer term merely by getting your staff to work for you, instead of feeling like a liability, your red number at the bottom of the page. There is so much money to be made just by "getting all staff on the boat". There is no such thing as loyalty anymore. Most people today, wherever their position is in a production chain, from management to store keeper, just work for the dollar. And that is where things need to change.

Humans are pack animals, we need to feel not only interesting(FB) but more importantly that "we belong".

To get all staff interested in their work, give them the full understanding of company goal and decision making, show them appreciation of their work, and most importantly ask for their input in an "informal manner", make them believe in their possibility to "influence" and you'll bring out their full potential(it is a win-win) nurture their sense of belonging. It is very easy to achieve this, seek opinion or suggestion on a question to which you already have the answer(preferably a question with an obvious one) and then if this staff contribution becomes a reality, you've made them feel important and confident, given them a sence of belonging, meaningfulness in your gratitude over their contribution to the "pack"(company's) success. It is so easy but why does this problem still exist?

So much dead meat(Ballast) floating around in today's corporate middle management segment, acting as the destructive "reality mufflers" preventing the correct decisions to be made, and that make companies lose money.

Who has the overall "picture" of the organization, or production?
The answer is unfortunately, not many of the ones that should have.