Social media…Cloud networks…mobile workforces…whatever you think the buzz is for 2011…think about what underlies all of it—better communication skills.
When it comes right down to it, any efforts that organizations are looking to achieve in either marketing and promotion or internal development and growth all come down to realizing how to best communicate. You can see it in your own organizations on an anecdotal level, but effective communication really does make a difference. Check out the latest research on effective organizations [1] from TowersWatson…the statistics on workplace communication are stunning.
The ROI is huge when you communicate well:
- Companies that are highly effective communicators had 47% higher total returns to shareholders over the last five years
- Highly effective communicators are more than three times as likely to deal openly to resistance to change
- Highly effective communicators are more likely than the least effective communicators to report their social media tools are cost-effective (37% vs. 14%).
- Companies that are less-effective communicators are three times as likely as highly effective communicators to report having no formal measurements of communication effectiveness.
Like I said…pretty incredible. The companies that communicate best are the clear winners! So how do you develop better communication skills for 2011…find out in our next blog post.