Marie Verity

According to a study performed by Watson Wyatt, businesses with effective communication practices are over 50 percent more likely to report that their employee turnover levels were below the industry average.

It’s not a secret that effective communication training increases productivity and employee morale. And yet, doesn’t it seem like communication skills are often taken for granted or overlooked?

These communication skills are even more important in managers. 

Don’t expect your employees to come with perfect communication skills “built-in”. Instead, train them to become great communicators.

Peter Drucker says, “The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.” This isn’t to say that no responsibility lies on employees, but that performance and productivity gaps can often be remedied by improving managers.

High-performers who are ambitious and want to grow tend to be top-picks when it comes time to promote someone to manager.

If one of your top leaders left your organization tomorrow, what would happen?

Would you start looking for an outside replacement ­­– even though the process is tedious, and you’re never absolutely sure that a candidate will be the right fit?

Often, the better alternative is to promote your next leader from within your company.