Confidence that a company will withstand the recession has an impact on staff engagement. When employees feel confident about their employer's plans for the future, 81% have high job enthusiasm and 86% express long-term commitment, according to Threshold Communications, which carried out research of almost 1,000 employees.
Communication was found to increase employee morale with, coincidentally, 81% of staff that understand their company's plan having high enthusiasm for their job. And of those not committed to their company's long-term success, only 11% said their employer had let them in on future plans.
Of the staff who strongly disagree their company has a clear plan, only 17% were confident in the answers given by their line manager and almost half had no confidence at all.
Of the employees who strongly agree with the statement, ‘my line-manager talks through plans and aims with me', 74% have high job enthusiasm and 86% have long-term commitment compared with those who disagree with the statement. Of those, a mere 17% are enthusiastic and 26% are committed for the long term.
James Brooke, director at Threshold, said: "The holy grail for most organisations is to find or enable employees to feel a great deal of enthusiasm for their jobs. The results of our research suggest not only does good communication engender enthusiasm, it also helps employees to align themselves positively with their company's future, even if the outlook is uncertain.
"The most important thing we can extrapolate from this research is how crucial it is for companies to listen and respond. Most organisations are currently under pressure but they can transform the performance of their employees by improving the communications techniques used by their managers."
EXCLUSIVE: Employees are engaged if they know their firms' recession plan
Less than half (40%) of employees think their company has a clear plan to get through the recession and, of these, less than a third feel committed to the long-term success of their company.
