4 big morale-busting communication mistakes leaders should stop making

Widespread layoffs in 2023 took a toll on morale that continues to reverberate in 2024. In the absence of positive emotions and a positive workplace culture, employee engagement and innovation both suffer. This leads us—a senior scientist and an organizational researcher—to conclude that today’s leaders must take action to energize employees and boost morale so that creativity and innovation can thrive despite the difficulties companies have faced and will no doubt continue to face. 

But executive communications can be fraught, and there’s often a disconnect between what leaders believe needs to be said and what employees need to hear. The Axios 2023 State of Essential Workplace Communications report found that many business leaders see figuring out what to communicate to employees and stakeholders as the top challenge they face; the same survey finds that employees want to hear thoughtful and insightful perspectives from leaders on a consistent cadence.

The pandemic era put the spotlight on leadership communications while making the task more complex, due to virtual and hybrid meetings where side chats are common and (often acrimonious) commentary is shared anonymously. Here are four common mistakes we see leaders making in their communications with employees—and four suggested alternative approaches that can boost morale, leading to greater engagement, innovation, and productivity.

Don’t ignore anxiety

Significant organizational changes, such as mergers, divestitures, reorganizations, or layoffs, tend to evoke a sense of loss and uncertainty for employees. Leaders must pause to recognize this: Instead of immediately steering their narrative toward excitement for the future, first acknowledge the emotions that may be percolating within the workforce. By displaying empathy and understanding, leaders build trust. Genuine empathy fosters connection, making the subsequent introduction of excitement a more natural and well-received progression in the change journey.

Moreover, when leaders convey honestly that they too experience anxiety related to change and the uncertainty it necessarily brings, it makes the positive case for a change more believable. It is never the case that the promise a proposed change offers will ensure its success. Being honest about this, while also communicating confidence in the organization’s ability to meet the challenges that lie ahead, builds greater engagement compared to simply expressing excitement.

Convey acceptance before excitement

Imagine a company undergoing a significant restructuring that includes massive changes in reporting structures. Instead of immediately rallying employees with their excitement about the opportunities ahead, a leader should first acknowledge the emotional impact the changes may bring. They might hold town hall meetings to listen to employees’ concerns, to sincerely understand the challenges they’re facing. This display of acceptance fosters understanding and empathy, laying the groundwork in which excitement can later take hold, after employees feel heard and supported. Without the acceptance step, employees may perceive a leader as tone-deaf.

Don’t be generic

The process of expressing gratitude is more meaningful when preceded by a genuine acknowledgment of the challenges employees have faced. Leaders should take the time to recognize and articulate the unique circumstances and curveballs that may have impacted the team. This allows authentic appreciation to be heard, ensuring that thank-yous are not empty formalities but rather heartfelt expressions of recognition. By weaving specificity into their expressions of gratitude, leaders strengthen their relationship with employees and foster a culture of mutual respect.

Acknowledge specific obstacles before expressing appreciation

In the aftermath of a challenging project completion, leaders are likely to be eager to express appreciation for a team’s hard work. To do this effectively, first acknowledge the hurdles the project faced. For instance, a leader might communicate, “I realize you encountered unexpected obstacles during the pandemic when travel was shut down, and yet the team came up with innovative ways to connect with the customer. I appreciate the team’s resilience in overcoming these hurdles.” This helps the appreciation resonate more deeply because it conveys a better understanding of the team’s efforts and challenges. Employees crave authenticity in leaders and value authentic expression of gratitude. Obligatory thank-yous can seem insincere, or worse, as expressions of hubris.

Don’t omit challenges

During periods of uncertainty, repeated reassurances do not effectively quell concerns unless preceded by a clear sense of assurance. Leaders need to first communicate a plan or a rationale behind their approach to make reassurance compelling. Explaining how you see the situation and how it might be approached builds confidence and understanding. This sets the stage for subsequent reassurance, avoiding the sense of empty words with this genuine commitment to addressing challenges and steering the organization through turbulent times.

It is important for leaders to acknowledge that they do not have a crystal ball. The most thoughtful plans are at risk of (intelligent) failures due to unexpected changes in the environment or unanticipated shortcomings of the plan. This too should be acknowledged to build commitment to the effort that progress will take—and to ensure that people are willing to speak up quickly when things go wrong.

Offer assurance before reassurance

Picture a scenario where a company faces economic uncertainties and employees are concerned about job security. Instead of repeated reassurance, a leader can instead provide assurance by outlining strategic steps the company is taking to navigate the challenges. By transparently explaining the decision-making process, the strategy, and why the organization should be able to weather the storms ahead, the leader builds employee confidence. Subsequent reassurance is then meaningful because it’s grounded in a viable argument for how the organization is addressing the situation. Repeated reassurances without ample detail are at risk of being perceived as leadership arrogance.

Don’t be punitive

Accountability discussions can be delicate, and introducing accountability verbiage without prior alignment efforts can lead to unintended consequences. Far too often, the word accountability is heard as a threat of punishment, including for results that seem to be outside of employee control. Leaders should thus first ensure alignment on goals, responsibilities, and plans. To do this, leaders must invest time and effort in communicating how they envision the organization moving forward to achieve its goals. With this alignment established, it is possible to have mutual understanding about what accountability really means. 

When accountability refers to shared appreciation of the responsibilities and the uncertainties inherent in the work that lies ahead, then people are more able to speak up openly with their observations, their questions, their ideas, and their concerns. Innovation, and high-performance more generally, in teams, has been shown to happen more often in teams with high psychological safety, where this kind of communication is possible. Moreover, this openness allows people to feel accountable to their teams for doing their part of the work in a timely way. 

Build alignment before accountability

When leading an organization, or a team working on a critical project, initiate a series of discussions to build alignment on goals and process expectations. Through these discussions, team members gain a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities. Once alignment is established, accountability discussions naturally follow, framed within the collaborative context. This sequence helps prevent accountability from feeling punitive and contributes to a sense of psychological ownership for results and a positive team culture. In contrast, communicating accountability before gaining alignment comes across as punitive and risks creating a toxic culture.

In our experience, the words and actions of leaders hold the power to elevate or diminish the innovative spirit of employees. We have seen leaders offer honest, balanced, and effective communication that inspires and boosts employee morale, promoting innovation. Particularly in times of uncertainty, communication that conveys empathy, authenticity, and transparency is essential to building psychological safety in a workplace. And psychological safety is an essential precondition for creativity, smart risk-taking, and, ultimately, successful innovation. Clear, honest communication, with thoughtful attention to sequence, can dispel the fear and negativity that block engagement and innovation, rebuilding the positive emotions and strong relationships that organizations will need to weather the storms ahead.