25+ Critical Communication In The Workplace Statistics [2023]: How Effective Is Good Communication?

Research Summary: Everyone knows communication is important, but in the workplace, proper communication can make or break a team. From ensuring tasks are completed on time to understanding the company’s strategy, communication is truly key.

To find out more, we’ve investigated all of the essential facts about communication in the workplace. According to our extensive research:

• Teams with effective communication see their productivity increase by up to 25%.

• 86% of workforce respondents blame poor communication as the main reason for company failures.

• Only 7% of US workers feel that communication is accurate, open, and timely at work.

• Up to 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy.

• 28% of employees believe poor communication is the reason for missed deadlines.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Employee Workplace | Cost of Bad | Policy | Improving Communication

Benefits of Good Communication in the Workplace

While you might know that good workplace communication is important, you may not know why. To learn more about the benefits of good communication in the workplace, here are the facts:

• Teams with effective communication plans are 3.5X more likely to outperform peers.

• Companies with effective communication plans increase employee retention by 4.5X.

• Well-informed employees outperform their peers by 77%.

• Employees are 3X more likely to be engaged when they receive feedback from their boss.

• 70% of the workforce would be more productive with better communication.

Employee Workplace Communication Opinions

Knowing employee opinions on communication can be a vital first step in improving communication in the workplace. So, to learn more, we’ve gathered all of the most interesting employee opinions:

• 97% of employees believe communication impacts task efficacy on a daily basis.

  Just imagine the difference between receiving specific instructions for a task versus trying to figure it out on your own. It seems most people prefer the former.

• 57% of employees report not being given clear direction by their supervisors.

  And this issue actually goes both ways, as 69% of employers feel uncomfortable communicating with their employees. Seems there are a lot of awkward silences and confusing meetings in the workplace.

• 74% of employees believe they miss out on company news and important information.

  Nearly three-fourths of employees believe they’re missing out on something, which can be a huge communication issue. Maybe that’s why few people show up to the pizza-party announcement.

• At least 20% of workers use their company’s internet every day.

  Compounded by the fact that 77% of workers use social media at work, it’s clear to see why many workers might be distracted.

• 26% of workers who report manager feedback helps improve their performance.

  While feedback isn’t always enough, it’s still a strong tool in a manager’s toolbox. When delivered constructively, feedback can help inform an employee on how to improve.

Cost of Bad Communication in the Workplace

Good communication has many benefits, but it’s hard to understate just how many drawbacks come with bad communication. To find out how much bad communication is costing employers and workers, here are some insights our research uncovered:

• Companies with 100,000+ employees lost $62.4 million per year to miscommunication.

  In fact, companies can lose up to $11,000 per year per employee from something as simple as miscommunication.

• Companies with only 100 employees still lose up to $420,000 per year to miscommunication.

  Miscommunication is incredibly costly, regardless of the size of the company. After all, a loss of over $400k could easily bankrupt a small business.

• Companies with only 100 employees still lose up to $420,000 per year to miscommunication.

  90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to fill jobs, compared to 55% using Facebook and 47% using Twitter.

• 46% of businesses have lost clients to poor communication.

  Nearly half of all businesses struggle with customer services, resulting in up to $75 billion lost per year.

• Employees spend up to 17 hours per week clarifying unclear communication.

  This is especially true for things like texts and emails, which employees can easily misunderstand. In turn, employees can lose nearly half of their productive time to miscommunication.

Company Communication Policy Statistics

Companies often try to facilitate effective communication through policies. Effective or not, making communication a priority is always a good first step. According to our research:

• 64% of companies say that communicating strategy to employees is a key priority.

  Considering the fact that 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy, finding an effective way to communicate that strategy to employees should be of the utmost importance in the workplace.

• 60% of companies don’t have a long-term communication plan in place.

  This contributes to why so many employees feel as though they don’t understand the company’s goals or might get confused about their daily tasks.

• 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with their employees.

  An effective team needs a manager who knows how to lead, but the fact is that most managers don’t know how to communicate with their employees.

Improving Communication in the Workplace

With all of these facts in mind, you might be wondering how exactly companies can improve communication in the workplace. In fact, there are many ways to do so, including:

• 86% of business leaders have a dedicated budget focused on improving company communication tools.

  Most business leaders understand that communication is important, and the first step to making improvements is to dedicate a budget toward new and improved communication tools.

• 61% of workers have started using new communication tools within the past 12 months.

  Working from home has really highlighted how important communication is in the workplace. Unsurprisingly, then, the majority of workers have actually begun to use new communication tools. This is true whether they work from home or still go to the office.

• 85% of employees feel most motivated when management shares company news updates.

  Employee awareness doesn’t just improve communication but also increases productivity. That’s because employees feel far more motivated when they understand their company’s goals and how they can contribute to them.

• 55% of a message’s meeting is communicated non-verbally.

  Things like your posture and facial expression are surprisingly important when it comes to conveying a message. In fact, only 7% of a message’s meaning comes from the actual words spoken.

Communication In The Workplace FAQ

1. What percent of the time is spent on communication in the workplace?

   Workers spend approximately 29% of their time on communication in the workplace. In an eight-hour day, that equates to nearly two and a half hours of communication taking place.

   This highlights just how costly poor communication can be, given that employees spend up to 17 hours per week clarifying things they didn’t understand.

2. How effective is communication in the workplace?

   Communication is very effective in the workplace for improving productivity and organization. For example, Well-informed employees outperform their peers by 77%, and 70% of the workforce would be more productive with better communication.

3. How does communication improve productivity?

   Communication improves productivity by up to 25%. That’s because informed employees are far more likely to learn tasks quickly and perform them effectively. On top of that, when employees understand a company’s goals, it’s easier for them to align their actions with those goals.

4. How important is communication in the workplace?

   Communication should be one of the top priorities for managers in the workplace. The fact is that right now, 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with their employees.

   However, proper communication can come with many benefits, including:

   • Better morale

   • Improved engagement

   • Increased productivity

   • Employee satisfaction

Conclusion

Whether you’re a manager or not, communication is vital for maintaining a safe and productive workplace. Employees spend up to 29% of their day communicating.

However, that doesn’t mean that all companies have communication down. Despite most companies saying they have a communication strategy in place, a staggering 95% of employees don’t even understand their company’s mission.

Luckily, there are ways to improve this. Through proper budgeting, the implementation of new tools, and improved non-verbal communication, employers can make strides in improving workplace communication. In turn, that communication will bring better morale, improved engagement, increased productivity, and employee satisfaction.

References

1. Entrepreneur. “How Effective Employee Communication Boosts Productivity.” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

2. Press Release. “86 Percent of Employees Cite Lack of Collaboration for Workplace Failures.” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

3. Workplace. “Communicate Better With Employees, Regardless of Where They Work.” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

4. CMSWire. “4 Trends in Workplace Communication [Infographic].” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

5. Chron. “Importance of Communication in the Work Place.” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

6. Tribal Impact. “4 Tips to Improve Employee Communication in the Workplace.” Accessed on August 30th, 2022.

7. SHRM. “The Cost of Poor Communications.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

8. Forbes. “Businesses Lose $75 Billion Due To Poor Customer Service.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

9. Forbes. “Workplace communication: It’s now more important than ever.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

10. Workforce. “Poor Internal Communication Can Be a Costly Mistake for Businesses.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

11. Ladders. “Survey: Majority of managers are uncomfortable giving feedback.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

12. Grammarly. “The State of Business Communication.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

13. Trade Press Services. “Using Internal Communications to Enhance Business Growth.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

14. Businesstopia. “Verbal versus Non-verbal Communication.” Accessed on September 1st, 2022.

Author

Jack Flynn

Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.