Question: What is the most important factor in management-employee communications?

Answer: At Legitimate Leadership we believe that the critical factor accounting for successful management-employee communication is the degree to which employees trust the source of the communication. Neither the content of the message (WHAT management says) nor the choice of medium (HOW they say it) is anywhere near as important as whether it is trusted in the first place.
When managers are trusted, individually and collectively, then what they say is generally believed and accepted. When trust in management is low, employees are suspicious of everything that management says, even if it is the truth.

Trust in management is granted or withheld on the basis of a single criterion: the degree to which employees perceive management to be in the relationship to “give” or to “take”. When managers are perceived to be pursuing their own interests, to only be in the relationship to get something out of their people, trust in them will be low. Only when managers are experienced as being there to give or serve their people, will their staff be willing to give to them – because they trust that their managers have their best interests at heart.

In essence, only when managers are communicating in their employees’ best interests, rather than their own interests, will they be trusted. Only when managers not only tell their employees the truth, but disclose to them information that they don’t have to share, trusting that their employees will not use the information against them, will they be trusted.