feiea_annual_report_2008_web.pdf

President’s message
FEIEA President Daniel Ambühl
The credit crunch and the resulting loss of
trust are not only questions of political or
business behaviour, they also affect internal
communication and the self-confidence of the
employees. In the present crisis, mistrust and
criticism infect entire companies whilst the
management struggles to retrieve the situation.
Why is this?
Diminishing entries in order books always have an
immediate influence on relations in the workplace
at – and between – all levels. As a minimum the
loss of power and in the worse case job-losses are
among the main causes. Quite often organisations
are unable to cope with the impact of the crisis,
although management teams so often talk with apparent confidence about
change and crisis management. We know this too well: Again, though, why?
Is it due to the lack of the habits of a genuine learning organisation?
Excellence in internal communication starts with the management insight
that transparency is the only basis of mutual trust and that the acceptance of
bottom up feedback is the starting point of adaptation to new situations and
the introduction of innovation. How near is your company to this point – or
how far away?
Time and again: it is not power marketing, lobbying, public and political
relations that will bring back prosperity and an improvement in economic
terms and trade, but it is the turning into reality of the so often conjured up
information and communication age, especially inside companies. So, let us
change our attitudes! Let us create new trust!
Yours
Daniel L Ambühl
FEIEA The Report 2007-08
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