Employers could benefit from being a little more straightforward with their employees about company goals. Workers would also be more motivated if they had a better understanding of the goals of the organization as well as those of their colleagues.
So says a new survey by BetterWorks, a company that provides software for workers to give feedback to employers.
The poll of 1,000 U.S. employees finds that 64 percent believe management is not entirely transparent when communicating its goals to workers. A smaller but significant group of employees (37 percent) say they would be motivated to do better if there was greater awareness and visibility of the company's goals.
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The most compelling result, however, may have been the 92 percent of employees who say they would work harder if they knew that their coworkers could see their goals.
The feedback workers are receiving is largely ineffective. Sixty-two percent of workers say the communication about performance isn't frequent enough or particularly useful.
Perhaps as a result, a majority of workers say they are not sure of how their work connects to the broader goals of the employer, although women (32 percent) are slightly more likely than men (25 percent) to say they understand how their role is connected to the company's mission.
Women also appear more likely to value ongoing dialogue with company leadership about how their work is contributing to the firm's objectives. Fifty percent of women say more recognition of their work would improve their performance. Forty-two percent of men agree.
Traditional methods of evaluating employee performance and assessing worker satisfaction have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.
Some HR experts have said that annual reviews and questionnaires are often far too infrequent and do not allow managers to respond quickly to the myriad concerns workers have throughout the year.
The key, they argue, is constant communication, often facilitated by online tools which allow workers to feel in touch with management and enable managers to address issues immediately.
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