Despite their personal charisma and the latest presentation technology, corporate chief executives are increasingly failing to connect with their employees  --  especially the youngest ones, according to a study by Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in Boston.

The study found that formal lectures, motivational speeches and multi-media presentations are becoming less effective for employee training or communication.  "There´s growing distaste for authority-driven learning and communication, which is making real employee engagement more elusive for top management," said Novations Vice President Rebecca Hefter.  "Corporate leadership realizes there is a problem and that the time has come for a redesign of organization communications.  The study urges we move toward more peer learning and better interpersonal skills."

Age differences among employees are a key challenge facing organization communications, according to the study.  "Employees in their 30s have learned to rely on technology and their peers for ´best practices´ feedback.  Meanwhile, older employees were never enthralled by technology and have learned just to tolerate it.  It´s younger employees in their 20s who aren´t impressed by presentation software, even when it offers state-of-the-art graphics and animation.  One young study subject was heard to say after such a presentation: ´Are you kidding?  We did that stuff in high school.´" 

According to the study, employees respond more positively to personal interaction and sharing of work experiences than to listening passively to a long management presentation.  A young man expressed the sentiment:  "Can´t I just talk to the guy next to me?"

Hefter offered some advice for CEOs:

• Be down to earth.  Reach out to your employees by taking part in a two-way discussion, not by trying to impress them with your presentation skills.
• Focus the discussion on what each employee needs to know and try to get everyone to own a part of the problem being addressed.
• After your kick-off, take a seat, turn the meeting over to your team, leverage their know-how and take your own notes.
• Put technology in its right place.  If it´s now used 30% of the time, cut it to 10-15%.  To add variety, sometimes eliminate technology altogether for meetings with fewer than 50 employees.
• Avoid gimmicks or anything that feels artificial.
• Minimize the time devoted to a lecture and maximize that spent on interaction.  Invite employees to share experiences.  Let everyone talk more, while you listen.
• Don´t let your personal style get in the way of the learning of the team.

Hefter observed that corporate decision-makers have difficulty keeping up with the pace of change in the workplace.  "CEOs got to where they are by mastering the art of presentation and inspiring their employees, and now they´re told they need to develop a whole new set of interactive skills.  Put another way, it´s tough to wean successful top executives from their thirst for applause."

Founded in 1977 and based in Boston, Novations Group is one of the country´s largest performance improvement organizations and serves client organizations on four continents.  For information visit www.Novations.com. 

Contact:  Pat FitzGerald, Novations, 617-787-2163, pfitzgerald@novations.com, or Phil Ryan, Ryan Public Relations, 845-339-7858.