We work at places where managers never tell employees what their jobs are.

According to Adrian Cropley, Chair, International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the most common thing he hears from employees is: “My manager never communicates with me.” Cropley was talking about internal communications at an IABC meeting held in Phoenix on March 21.

Good managers must engage employees, empower them and value their emotional capital. According to Cropley, this is not the role of human resources. Instead, professional communicators should train managers so that they communicate with employees as this correlates to greater productivity.

Employee engagement is about workers saying good things about a company, striving for excellent results and staying longer with their employers. So, what makes people stay in organizations? According to research, six out of ten said it is because of good leadership, three said the infrastructure keeps them there and just one said that the media’s perception of a company was a factor. So, Cropley summarized current research on what employees consider are the most important things at their workplace:

1. What is my job?
2. How am I doing?
3. Does anyone care?
4. How are we doing?
5. Mission, vision strategy
6. Engagement

So, when you go to work tomorrow, clearly find out what your job is. Tell your manager to engage, otherwise you can take a mighty organization to failure in a short time.