BENEFITS COMMUNICATION BUILDS TRUST
A recent study by Aon Consulting, Inc. shows that good communication of benefits information builds and maintains employee trust better than some of the benefits themselves do.

Using Aon's Workforce Commitment Index, which reports how well various factors correlate with commitment to the company (with scores ranging from -1 to 1), health plans scored 0.22. Employer-paid pensions scored 0.26. And good benefits communication correlated even higher, at 0.38. That was higher even than the correlation with pay.

The reason? Although a benefits plan has to have value to begin with (you won't get good results by talking a lot about a horrible plan), frequent, honest, and direct communication with employees shows that management is concerned and responsive. Also, perception of benefits packages can be improved by benefits communications, which will remind employees what their package entails and what it's doing for them... even, and perhaps especially, in tough economic times.

Source: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3870/is_7_19/ai_103846831

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GOOD LEADERS COMMUNICATE MORE THAN 'JUST THE FACTS'
Effective communication entails more than Joe Friday's "Just the facts, ma'am." Laying out the cold, hard details of a situation will motivate one type of person, but may miss others entirely.

Different people receive information in different ways. There are three primary "channels" of leadership communication: factual, emotional, and symbolic. Many leaders have the first channel down-pat but neglect the other two. To add punch to your communication and reach people who operate on the other channels, try the following:

EMOTION: A leader does not need to be stoic and invulnerable. In addition to talking about increasing the number of customers (fact), consider speaking about adding value to the customer experience (emotion). Empathize with employees. Telling personal stories will show why you believe in certain issues.

SYMBOLS: Symbols are a way to live your company's brand or mission. For example, when Turner Network Television shifted its brand to "We Know Drama," the company began an internal campaign which included TNT's intra-company "Drammy Awards." The "Most Dramatic Meeting" award went to a vice president whose water broke during a meeting.

Source: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3559&t=leadership

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TRAINING IS NOT ABOUT OYSTERS
Small company growth expert Steven S. Little tells a story about a friendly local oyster bar and how it relates to employee training. One night, Little and his wife were served by a new waiter who had clearly been trained by the book: the man was efficient, fast, and accurate with his orders. But he never made eye contact and never spoke, save to quickly take orders.

The experience was a customer satisfaction disaster. What the owner of the bar knew -- but did not train into his new staff -- was that for these customers, it's not about the oysters. Customers came (and came back) because of the establishment's atmosphere and service.

The lesson is that it's not always evident as to the best way to satisfy a customer and why they buy. You have to spell it out to your people in training -- train them in the unique ways that your company serves your unique customers.

Little suggests taking a look at the way employees are trained in your company, keeping the following in mind:

* When training, don't just teach processes and procedures. Teach attitude, too.
* Remember why your customers buy, and teach employees who the customers really are.
* Teach employees that what satisfies a customer isn't obvious, whether you're serving the public or business-to-business customers.
* Think about what you're ACTUALLY training for -- which in the case of the oyster bar was the the unique way they treated customers.

Source: http://www.stevenslittle.com