You’ve no doubt felt the impact of poor communication at some point in your life.
Saying that poor communication causes problems is about as controversial as saying “Ice cream is delicious.” Not very.
What’s less clear, however, is just how much poor communication costs.
More specifically, how much does poor communication cost the typical business?
That cost is rarely quantified.
Instead, people (yes, even Mandel has been guilty of this in the past) point out that it’s “high” or “astronomical” or “higher than you think.”
The problem with vague “guesstimates” like these is that people don’t take them seriously. Because of how the human brain works, we automatically dismiss these statements as hyperbole or exaggerations.
That’s why the stats in a 2017 report on workplace productivity may shock you.
Not only does this first-of-its-kind research report quantify the astronomical cost of poor communication, it also tallies how much of their day employees spend communicating and collaborating with others.
Care to venture a guess? 68.6%!
And 21% of it is a “partial” or “total” waste of time, according to the research.
What does that wasted time cost the typical company?
A staggering $52.5M annually.
Now, imagine if you could recover even a fraction of that inefficiency? Imagine if employees had easy-to-use tools and methods for:
- Managing teams and meetings more effectively
- Getting to the point faster in emails and conversations
- Calming fears and frustrations
- Inspiring new ideas and action on those ideas
- Driving decisions, not discussions
Learning & Development professionals and HR Business Partners often tell us that making the case for soft skills training can be hard.
While intuitively it’s easy to understand the personal impact of poor communication, quantifying the business value of communications training is tougher.
For HR, Talent and L&D Professionals, these metrics will help drive your business case.
You’re driving quantifiable value for your company. That’s why I wanted to share this research with you.
If nothing else, I hope it helps you more clearly show the price a business pays for poor communication and make a stronger case for soft skills training investments.
Did You Know?
Mandel’s performance metrics are best-in-industry. Our low learning scrap rate and high Net Promoter Score mean customers get a big return on their training investment. Learn more here!
