How good communication helps avoid the cost of misunderstanding

Queensland Country Bank CEO Aaron Newman is the type of leader who tries to be as honest and transparent as possible. He frequently holds all-staff meetings, encouraging his staff to ask him anything.   

Aaron’s view is, ‘I'll always give my staff as much information as they want, when I legally can. I don't think that attitude exists everywhere, which is a shame because I believe it helps people feel more connected to the business.’   

Aaron frequently shares relevant and meaningful information with clarity, compassion and consistency, earning him a high level of trust from his workforce.   

One of the greatest benefits of having a leader who understands how to communicate with conviction is that they save their organisations a lot of money.   

Poor communication costs millions — in lost sales, and at a fundamental level.   

Did you know that, on average, workers waste almost an entire day every week because of inefficient communication and substandard collaboration? And that a second day each week is taken up with writing and responding to emails?   

Poor communication can lead to:   

• staff not understanding their purpose

• pointless meetings that should have been a phone call

• increased reputational risk

• loss of credibility and trust with staff, customers and core stakeholders, resulting in lost sales

• loss of morale and staff feeling unvalued

• reduced innovation

• delayed or failed projects.   

And then there is the cost of staff turnover. This goes beyond the obvious costs of recruitment, onboarding and training. Consider the loss of knowledge and the overall productivity and performance of the team, especially if the members worked well together.   

Poor communication is often the primary consideration when good people resign. If you see a resignation trend, perhaps look at how your managers and leaders communicate with their people.   

Critically, good communication helps avoid the cost of misunderstanding and positively impacts financial performance, with research indicating that companies with highly effective communication practices had forty-seven per cent higher total returns to shareholders over five years (2004-2009) than those with less effective communication. Wouldn’t you want that for your company?   

What is your communication like? Do you communicate with conviction or is your style more chaotic?