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Probably 80 to 90 percent of a manager’s day consists of communicating in some form or other. Obviously things like training, orientation, performance evaluations and the like are forms of communication. But communication also forms the basis of discipline, counseling and complaint-handling 鈥� even terminations.

Unfortunately, much of a supervisor’s day may be spent making up for bad communications. Let’s look at some of the ways companies communicate with employees and analyze some practical steps you can take to make communication better: more effective, more positive, and better understood.

Advantages of well-crafted written communication

Some people assume that, although misunderstandings might occur when speaking, there is no possibility of that happening if instructions are written. 鈥淚 put it in writing鈥� is a common seal-of-approval among supervisors that translates into 鈥渁ny misunderstanding is the employee’s fault, not mine.鈥�

Indeed, written communications in the area of discipline can sometimes be imperative 鈥� the difference between winning and losing a lawsuit often rests on the quantity and quality of the company’s documentation of discipline. Putting things in writing can ensure precision and create a record and is the only reasonable way to distribute complex ideas like a new benefit plan.

But a sloppy presentation can be counterproductive. A generous new policy on pay or benefits can be perceived as threatening or worse by employees who misunderstand what the policy is, or what the company is trying to accomplish. The language used must conform to the audience receiving the message, and there’s no reason to blame the reader for misunderstanding something that could have been written more clearly. That burden always rests with management.

Handbooks

There was a time when many lawyers recommended against the use of employee handbooks, especially for their non-union clients. In those days, the biggest threat to a company was an outside union organizer, and employee handbooks could be used against a company.

Times have changed. The biggest threat to a company today is not a group of employees joining a union but a single employee filing a lawsuit. Compliance with state and federal laws requires notifying your employees that you support equal opportunity, prohibit harassment and allow time off for certain reasons. As long as handbooks are written well, preserve flexibility and don’t unknowingly create contracts with employees, there should be no problem.

Company newsletter

A good way for companies, especially larger ones or those in multiple locations, to keep in touch with employees is through an internally distributed newsletter. It can not only serve as a valuable source of substantive information (such as changes in benefits, acquisitions or new policies) but also contribute to a sense of camaraderie between far-flung locations or departments that might otherwise have little to do with each other.

People generally enjoy belonging to groups that are bigger than themselves. A well-written and informative company newsletter can help create that sense of belonging.

Remember to keep the viewpoint focused on employees 鈥� how the events being reported on affect them, not just the company. Gear articles to their interests.

Bulletins

There are times when something major is going on in the company that is of a somewhat continuing nature: a possible buyout or merger, for example, or perhaps a union organizing campaign. There are bound to be rumors flying around, sometimes harmful ones. A thoughtful, short, readable bulletin, devoted to a single topic, can get the company’s message out quickly and efficiently.

Supervisor bulletins

A good supervisor bulletin should be an aid to your supervisors, providing them with bullet-point information to serve as the basis of talking to employees. That way the message is communicated verbally and can be individually tailored to each employee.

But the bulletin is more than that, and it should be written so that if a supervisor 鈥渋nadvertently鈥� leaves it lying on a desktop or work area, there’s no harm done if an employee were to read it. In other words, nothing truly sensitive, and certainly nothing that could be considered anti-employee, should ever be put in such a bulletin. Instead, the message should convey a tone of privacy without being truly confidential, but should clearly articulate the most positive and pro-employee version of whatever the company’s message happens to be.

Bulletin boards

Bulletin boards are useful, even necessary, but should be used with caution. Clearly, there is a need for any number of bulletin boards at appropriate positions around the facility in order to provide a location on which to post government-mandated posters, such as BOLI’s minimum wage poster, the required information under OSHA, Title VII and others.

However, all employers need to ask themselves whether their employees will be allowed to post their own announcements. The National Labor Relations Board has long held that if employees are allowed to post a variety of personal messages or announcements, the company may not forbid the posting of pro-union propaganda, some of which can be pretty blatantly anti-management. Only forbidding all employee postings, and carefully monitoring to see that the board stays clean, would allow you to forbid pro-union postings. On the other hand, many employers are willing to take that risk. They feel that the benefit to employees of being able to advertise their kids’ cookie sale creates enough good will that it offsets the concern about union postings.

Letters to homes

There are several good reasons to occasionally send the employee and spouse letters from the company. One is an annual 鈥渟tate of the company鈥� letter from the CEO or owner, setting out the highlights and accomplishments of the past year and thanking the employees for their contribution to the effort. Obviously this is also a good time to include holiday wishes and any gift the company might be sharing, whether a bonus, shopping credit, or other.

Acknowledging employee birthdays also helps create a human touch, but if used this should be more than just good wishes. Too often birthday cards from an executive are really from the executive’s secretary, and that fact can be painfully obvious. The point is there should always be something more there than just the company’s anonymous good wishes. While employees neither want nor need detailed bottom-line figures of company performance, all are more than interested in how the company they work for is doing.

Exit interviews

Communication is even important 鈥� sometimes critically so 鈥� when it comes to employees who have left the company. Turnover is expensive, and learning the reason why employees are going to work elsewhere may let you know where you need to shore up pay or benefits compared to your competitors. Even more importantly, a number of comments about poor management, or directed at the same difficult supervisor, may help you head off major problems down the road. When employees are no longer with the company, they are often more willing to speak openly about what is on their minds.

Rich Meneghello is a partner at the Portland office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, one of the oldest and largest employment law firms in the country, and is dedicated to representing the interests of management. He can be reached at [email protected] or 503-205-8044.