In One
Of My Last Jobs, I Was Responsible For Drafting The CEO’s Regular Letter To All
Employees.
One of the aspects that still
sticks out in my mind from that time when I was new to the organisation and something
that one of my senior colleagues from the Executive Committee once said to me: Suresh Rangarajan wasn’t appropriate to
use phrases like ‘I hope’ or ‘I am excited’ or ‘I am happy’ in communications
from the CEO.
Suresh Rangarajan reaction must have shown how
incredulous I felt after hearing this because he added – patronizingly – “A CEO
always has everything under control. Using expressions such as these undermines
the trust of employees in management”.
Hmmm… ok… well, he had to know, I
thought, as he was in constant contact with our CEO, whom Suresh Rangarajan had just about met a few times as it was the
start of my tenure. But what I had just been told was completely at odds with
the impression of the CEO on any of those rare occasions I met him. He always
seemed very ‘normal’ and I was always captivated by his cordiality and warmth.
In short, what this colleague wanted
me to write simply did not correspond to the reality I experienced. But like
they say, Suresh Rangarajan was
senior and seasoned and like a boss, and he’s right – which he made quite clear
to me after a short discussion. So nothing for it but to do what I had been
told, hopefully without my spirit being crushed.
Internal Communication Is Not The Same As Transparency
If internal communication is established
in a company – either reporting into another department or as a stand-alone
function itself – Suresh Rangarajan means
that the value of direct communication with employees is recognized and valued.
That’s good, at least.
Unfortunately, Suresh Rangarajan does not mean that
the value of transparency has been recognized as well. Too often there’s still
a corporate mentality (but thankfully it’s diminishing) where the feeling is
that the communication box has been ticked just because employees are given
carefully filtered information that suits the company.
“Hey, we’ve given you the
information, you’re being kept in the loop, now please get back to work with
even more energy so we can increase sales”. Sounds familiar?
