Strategic Leadership Plan for Workplace Communication Skills

Background: The Communication Problem

In my current organization, there is a need to improve the communication efficiency of many employees. We have encountered problems stemming from poor communication, especially in written form. Some personnel perform their other job functions well but lack professionalism and precision when it comes to written communication. On several occasions, clients have expressed frustration because they were unable to understand the meaning of emails sent to them in the ordinary course of business.

For example, one client complained and asked to be reassigned to a different account manager because he believed the export manager handling his account was inexperienced. In reality, she has more than a decade of experience and serves as one of our new employee trainers. An internal audit of her communications with clients revealed that the problem was strictly one of poor communication. She routinely uses unprofessional language that gives the impression of incompetence or inexperience. A similar situation occurred with other employees in connection with their use of inappropriate slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations, and even emoticons in professional emails.

Therefore, this leadership plan is intended to address the communication skills and styles of employees so that their communications do not undermine their professionalism in other aspects of their positional responsibilities. The plan consists of specific goals, methods for achieving those goals, steps for their effective implementation, and metrics for evaluation and determination of success.

Strategic Objectives

The principal objectives of this strategic plan are to evaluate the current communication skills of all employees who deal with external clients. That evaluation will include both telephone skills and written communication skills, such as those demonstrated in emails. After that initial assessment phase, each employee will be assigned to a supervisor or manager who will be responsible for providing the necessary assistance on an ongoing basis. That assistance will take the form of a Communications Improvement Plan (CIP) designed by the supervisor or manager in conjunction with input from the Human Resources Department. The plans will be tailored to the specific needs of each employee, though it is anticipated that the main emphasis will be on written communication skills related to email correspondence.

The goal of this plan is to help every employee with an identified communications deficiency make the improvements necessary to bring his or her communication skills to the same level as their operational skills. Currently, all employees are performing satisfactorily in operational respects. However, as illustrated by the individual whose situation was previously detailed, the quality of their work and their value to the organization are being compromised by a relative inability to communicate efficiently and professionally with external clients.

Methodology and Training Design

Each supervisor or manager overseeing a CIP will develop a unique plan in conjunction with HR to enable every employee to make the improvements identified by the initial communications skills audit. The CIP will contain specific goals for each employee, such as vocabulary changes, improved grammar, sentence structure, and syntax. Other foreseeable elements of the CIPs will include the elimination of inappropriate language, abbreviations, and unprofessional computer communication habits — such as the use of emoticons — from professional correspondence.

More specifically, supervisors and managers assigned to deliver CIP training will review the previous communications of their assignees and identify the various elements requiring improvement. Together with HR input, they will then develop specific tasks and targeted lessons on a case-by-case basis. That process will also include instruction delivered by HR personnel to the supervisors and managers responsible for training. In particular, they will be advised of the need for confidentiality and of the importance of communicating criticisms in a manner that is sensitive to the needs and emotions of their assignees. The training will emphasize positive encouragement, including recognition of the high quality of employees' work in other respects.

According to research on leadership development, effective organizational improvement initiatives require both individual coaching and systemic support structures — a principle this plan reflects through its dual focus on personalized CIPs and HR oversight. The plan calls for supervisors and managers to review previous communications, identify problem areas with HR assistance, and then advise employees of the specific issues encountered. Employees will be trained to recognize how to use language more effectively in a professional environment. Exercises will be conducted in which supervisors and managers play the role of external clients, and employees will respond as though communicating with those clients. Each series of exchanges will be reviewed, and a report will be submitted to HR on a monthly basis. The training program is anticipated to last six months, as it will be conducted primarily during periods of reduced workload.

Conclusion

This leadership plan addresses a clear and demonstrable gap between employees' operational competence and their professional communication skills. By combining structured audits, individualized training, and long-term policy reform, the organization can protect its client relationships and ensure that strong work is never undermined by poor communication. The plan draws on established principles of authentic and transformational leadership to create a supportive, accountability-driven environment in which all employees can develop the skills needed to represent the organization effectively.