11 June 2008
Latin America leads on communicating company goals
But the region's suffering from a severe skills shortage.
New research from Watson Wyatt of 100 for-profit publicly traded companies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico has revealed that the majority (82%) of employees have a good understanding of their employer's goals.
The research also found that:
- Latin American companies are more likely to have an organizationwide total reward strategy than their global counterparts. Approximately two thirds of the Latin American companies have implemented an organizationwide job levelling approach and a total rewards strategy.
- Latin American employees also report much clearer line of sight when it comes to goal-setting than employees in other regions.
- 90% say they have a clear idea of how their performance contributes to the company meeting those goals.
90% say they have a clear idea of how their performance contributes to the company meeting its goals.
Comparing employee attraction and retention strategies
The research, entitled Playing to win in a Global Economy – 2007/08 Global Strategic Rewards Report – explores the "increasingly global market for talent" and examines how companies around the world are tackling attraction and retention issues and reward management.
It found that companies in the Latin America region tend to be more proactive about adopting total rewards and goal-setting programs than many of their counterparts in other regions.
However, the research also highlighted a severe skills shortage in Latin America, with around 70% of companies in the region having trouble attracting and retaining top-performing and critical skilled employees.
Key US findings
- Consistent with the global findings, US employers and employees have different ideas about why employees join or leave. As a result, some of the actions that employers are taking to attract and retain employees may be counterproductive.
- Highly engaged employees are more than twice as likely to be top performers than are other employees.
Clear "line of sight" must be a communication priority
In a research report entitled 21st Century Leadership Communication, published by Melcrum in late 2007, CEOs and senior executives suggested core messages and a clear "line of sight" be top priorities for any internal communication message.
As employee benefits and rewards programs increasingly become differentiators among competitor companies, it's likely that clear and concise communication on the topic will be of benefit those organizations struggling to retain and attract key employees.
Have your say
Is mixed messaging strangling your internal communication? Are employees getting the most out of your organization's benefits?
Discuss these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
Related news and resources:
Big companies have happier employees
Unique research reveals what your CEO wants from you
Melcrum report: 21st Century Leadership Communication
Picture caption: Are your messages standing out?
Got a news story? Contact the newsdesk