Based on research by Bradley Winton, DBA, Bobby Bean, MBA, Matthew Sargent, CFE, and Rosemary Maellaro, PhD.
Effective communication is critical for any organization, as it is instrumental in building positive outcomes such as more effective interpersonal relationships between managers and employees and increased team trust.
This study explores how the systematic beliefs, attitudes, and values of an organization's culture create impediments to agility. Specifically, it examines how corporate culture influences the linkage between effective communication processes and a formal rewards system.
The organization faced four prevailing areas of concern: negatively impacted relationships, informal communication structures, lack of a formal feedback process, and lack of a formal rewards system. These areas of concern, and their underlying issues, were responsible for the loss of millions of dollars in lost revenue opportunities.
Key Points
- This study explored how an organization's culture's systematic beliefs, attitudes, and values impede agility.
- Corporate culture influences the linkage between effective communication processes and a formal rewards system.
- Strong communication platforms and formal rewards systems within the organization are critical because engaged employees positively impact the organization.
What the Research Shows
- The analysis focused on four themes as the potential root cause of the target organization’s presenting problem of missed revenue: negatively impacted relationships, informal communication structures, a lack of formal feedback, and a lack of formal rewards and incentives. These four themes fall under the two overarching issues of having effective communication processes and a formal rewards system within the organization.
- A review of the organization noted an informal atmosphere that appeared to be causing issues with how different groups relate to one another, how the organization communicates both within and between business units, how the organization provides feedback to employees, and how employees are rewarded for their work.
- The review noted a lack of proper feedback. Employee goals were in place, but a formal feedback mechanism was not in place to help them understand what they were doing well or where they needed improvement. The lack of formal rewards within the organization highlighted these deficiencies. The organization lacked rewards for coordinating work among departments or improving performance based on feedback. Because the organization did not reward a formal environment, the organization remained informal in all aspects.
Why This Matters
- Companies suffer from a variety of impediments to communication (e.g., physical separation, email fatigue, reliance on technology, limited face-to-face communication), and this can impact how different groups relate to one another, how the organization communicates both within and between business units, how the organization provides feedback to employees, and how employees are rewarded for their work.
- Without an open environment built on the foundations of communication and the reinforcement of acceptable behavior through the rewards structure, employees will struggle with basic decision-making and their ability to achieve goals. They will fail to understand where improvements are needed, which will impact productivity. As employees become more agile in their decision-making, this can help the company become more competitive in a dynamic market where taking advantage of new opportunities can be the difference between continued success and failure.
- One of the significant differences between good organizations and bad organizations is effective performance management. The effectiveness of performance management is impacted by ineffective goal setting, and the initial yearly goal-setting process plays a significant role. For performance management to be effective, front-line leaders need the flexibility to set goals that match the individual, which should be achievable, measurable, and aligned with the organization’s goals. With the achievement of those goals comes rewards, and the rewards system impacts an organization's culture. A robust reward system can significantly impact how employees behave and respond to internal and external challenges.
Want to know more?
For any organization to be successful, it must understand what motivates its employees and how to communicate with them. Organizations connected through strong communication will be more focused on strategic goals, and providing a formal rewards system will help keep employees motivated to help achieve those goals.
Related Links:
- A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Moral Boost
- Three Strategies for Keeping Your Organization Connected
Based upon the following peer-reviewed manuscript: Winton, B., Bean, B., Sargent, M., & Maellaro, R. (2021). Embedding Formal Rewards and Effective Communication into Company Culture: A Path to Organizational Agility. Organization Development Journal, 39(2), 21-36.