Employees Don't Feel Heard

June 29, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Results of a new survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and The Wall Street Journal's executive career site, CareerJournal.com, show that only 59% of employees feel that their organizations listen to what they say.

A news release from both companies said the survey shows that companies are doing better at communicating downward, from management to employees, than upward, from employees to management. Sixty eight percent of employees and 66% of HR professionals agree or strongly agree that their company communicates its business plan and goals well to its staff, notes the announcement.

It seems the two groups aren’t even communicating on the problem since 80% of HR professionals feel their company is open to employee comments and suggestions, but only 66% of employees feel that way. Though not even half (46%) of companies reported collecting employee opinions, 86% of those who do rate the effectiveness of gathering feedback as good or very good. Tony Lee, a publisher at CareerJournal.com said in the news release, ” Organizations that communicate effectively outpace organizations that don’t. Companies should be more proactive in collecting employee feedback and establishing vehicles for employees to express their concerns.”

The survey on organizational communication gathered perspectives of both HR professionals and employees. The survey questions, e-mailed to randomly selected SHRM members, produced 347 responses from HR professionals. Four hundred thirty five responses for employee opinion were obtained from a sample of CareerJournal.com Web site visitors.

-Rebecca Moore

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