Is E-Mail Hurting Your Staff's Morale?
I just read an interesting article in PC World about a Canadian survey on preferred methods of communication among IT staff. E-mail was the top pick at 49 percent, while in-person conversations came in at 34 percent with phone calls a paltry 6 percent.
No surprise or shock there; I suspect many BlackBerry-dependent managers and workers would say the same. But what did make me perk up and pay attention was the suggested link between e-mail use and employee satisfaction.
"(T)he problem in this volatile market that we're in is it's really important for us as employers to make sure we have...face-to-face discussions," said Sandra Lavoy, a spokesperson for Robert Half Technology International, the Toronto-based company that conducted the survey. "The No. 1 reason why employees leave is lack of recognition; that could be something we're not addressing."
Given that Team Taskmaster readers have supported recognition as a key motivational strategy, it might be a good idea for us to keep in mind that the personal touch in communication is sometimes the better way to go.