June 26, 2009 - In May, 787,000 additional Americans lost their jobs - bringing the total number of unemployed to 14.5 million (United
States Department of Labor, 2009). Even individuals who retain their jobs are not immune to the influence of the financial crisis.
In an effort to save money, cash-strapped companies often cut employee pay and reduce working hours (Kiviat, 2009).
Understandably, workers are fearful about how the financial crisis will influence their jobs. In a national survey of American employees, about 62% said they expect their organizations will have difficulty meeting performance objectives in 2009; and 70% believe economic issues will cause financial problems for their companies. The vast majority of employees (71%) said their companies’ leadership should proactively
In an effort to learn how supervisors from various industries are communicating with their
employees, the University of Phoenix National Research Center (NRC) awarded a 2009 research grant to investigate leadership communication
during the financial crisis. In the grant proposal, Dr. Ruby Rouse and Dr. Richard Schuttler suggested the magnitude and timing of
the financial crisis presented a limited window of opportunity to study the leadership process (NRC, 2009).
Data was collected online
for six weeks in the summer of 2009. The investigation asked employees to share thoughts about how effectively (if at all) supervisors
communicate about the impact of the financial crisis. “The economic and personal consequences of the crisis demonstrate how leaders
must be prepared to cope with variables outside their control as well as communicate unexpected policy and vision changes to stakeholders,”
Dr. Schuttler said.
communicate about the current economic problems. Yet 54% of surveyed workers reported their bosses have said nothing about how the
financial crisis will affect their companies (Weber Shandwick, 2008). With the