Most Companies Step Up Communication to Ease Workers' Recession-Related Stress, Watson Wyatt Survey Finds
December 19 2008 - 2:21PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- U.S. employers are
stepping up their communication to workers about their financial
performance and solvency to help alleviate growing levels of stress
and anxiety caused by the recession, according to a new survey by
Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm. Overall, findings
show that 77 percent of respondents have already or are planning to
send out communication on the impact of the financial crisis. More
than two-thirds (69 percent) of these employers cited easing
employee anxiety as one of the top two goals of their
crisis-related internal communication while nearly one third (32
percent) cited earning employees' trust. Watson Wyatt's survey,
"Communicating to Employees During the Current Financial Crisis,"
was conducted in December 2008 and includes responses from 92
employers. According to employers, job security and company
performance and solvency are at the top of employees concerns.
While eight in 10 (80 percent) employers who are communicating
about the financial crisis noted that they have already sent
messages to employees about company performance and solvency, only
38 percent have communicated about job security. "Employers clearly
understand the impact the financial crisis is having, not only on
their business but on their employees as well," said Kathryn Yates,
global director of communication consulting at Watson Wyatt. "With
no end in sight to the recession, communicating regularly with
employees will be critical for companies to keep their workers
engaged and productive." Employers Are Communicating on Topics of
Concern to Employees Topics employers have Issues employees sent
out communications are asking about about in the past 60 days Job
security 43% 38% Company performance and solvency 36% 80% Bonuses
or other incentive pay 28% 34% Customer impact 25% 49% Benefit
programs 15% 46% Base pay 14% 17% Findings show varying perceptions
of the effectiveness of employers' communication to date:
Approximately two out of five respondents perceive their
communication to have been moderately or very effective in
maintaining/improving employee productivity (44 percent), reducing
employee stress/anxiety (43 percent) and improving employee
engagement (40 percent). However, many respondents simply do not
know how effective their communication strategy has been. For
instance, 27 percent cannot say how effective they have been in
improving employee engagement and 38 percent cannot say how
effective they have been in maintaining or improving employee
productivity. Of the companies that have already started to
communicate with their employees, nine out of 10 (91 percent) say
that the messages are being delivered by senior management. Only a
little over half the companies surveyed cite human resources (59
percent) or line managers (56 percent) as the source of the
messages. "Communication can be a powerful tool in these troubled
times, especially when supported by different levels of
management," said Yates. "But it's important to keep the specific
business context in mind and constantly monitor the effectiveness
of the messaging." Other findings -- Town hall meetings, staff
meetings and/or other face-to-face discussions are the most popular
medium of communication, cited by 87 percent of respondents and
closely followed by e-mail, cited by 86 percent. The company
intranet is a vehicle also, cited by 76 percent of respondents.
Social media, despite being a relative newcomer, is being used as a
delivery tool by 24 percent of respondents. -- Of those who have
already started to communicate with workers about the impact of the
crisis, 62 percent plan to incorporate their messaging into their
ongoing communication strategy for an indefinite period. For more
information, visit
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/communicatingfinancialcrisis About
Watson Wyatt Worldwide Watson Wyatt (NYSE:WWNASDAQ:WW) is the
trusted business partner to the world's leading organizations on
people and financial issues. The firm's global services include:
managing the cost and effectiveness of employee benefit programs;
developing attraction, retention and reward strategies; advising
pension plan sponsors and other institutions on optimal investment
strategies; providing strategic and financial advice to insurance
and financial services companies; and delivering related
technology, outsourcing and data services. Watson Wyatt has 7,600
associates in 32 countries and is located on the Web at
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/. DATASOURCE: Watson Wyatt Worldwide
CONTACT: Ed Emerman for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, +1-609-275-5162, ;
or Steve Arnoff of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, +1-703-258-7634, Web
site: http://www.watsonwyatt.com/
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/communicatingfinancialcrisis
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