Last week’s article on the ‘Top 5’ critical skills in short supply in Banking and Finance generated a lot of interest.
As a result of your feedback, we’re going to spend the next few weeks looking at each of the 5 areas of skill shortage in turn – beginning with communication – and give you some practical tips for survival.
For a quick summary of what you can do right now, see our earlier post ‘The five step skills shortage strategy’.
Without excellent communication skills in all your staff, you will find they can’t:
From just that short list, imagine what poor communication could be costing your business! But how can you know?
Signs you might have a problem:
What can you do about it?
1. Be a positive role model
Communicate regularly and openly with your clients and staff. Make sure this includes listening to what they have to say to you.
2. Diagnose communication skills gaps
There are many tools and approaches on the market to help you do this. We would be happy to help you find the right one for you.
3. Fill the gaps
This may require drastic action that involves one or all of the following:
If there are communication problems in your team, I guarantee without your intervention things can only get worse. What do you plan to do about it?
Susan Rochester has been managing director of Balance at Work since 2006. Susan has a natural tendency to balance analytical thinking with an optimistic outlook to set direction and solve problems. She is an effective facilitator and constantly creates new and more effective ways of doing things, motivated by helping others to achieve their goals.