Confidence Via Communication Keeps Employees Satisfied

The single most important predictor of employee satisfaction? Trust and confidence in top leadership. That was a key finding in a new study by the Hay Group Inc., a global human-resource management consultancy. The study, which examined more than 75 key components of employee satisfaction, also found that the key to winning that confidence was effective communication by leadership in three different areas:

• Helping employees understand the firm's overall business strategy.
• Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives.
• Sharing information with employees, relative to those objectives, on how the company is doing and how the employee's own division is doing.