The following is adapted from No One’s Listening and It’s Your Fault

Have you heard the Bible story of the parable of the sower? This parable describes a hardworking farmer who sows seeds in the land. Some seeds fall on fertile soil, while others fall in thorny land on the side of the road. 

As a business leader, like the sower, you may have diligently been communicating relevant messages through multiple channels, and yet you struggle to get engagement. You’ve likely wondered at times, Why aren’t my employees on board with my message?

Your answer may be tangled in a combination of thorny issues. Let’s take a look at five reasons why your employees aren’t listening so you can understand how to better reach their ears. 

#1: It’s Not the Right Message

You may be communicating a complicated message that is disconnected from the overall messages that flow throughout the organization. Your message may be too vague or too detailed. People are confused by what you ask of them, and they ignore the message—or worse, they ignore you.

This disconnect happens when your message is not aligned with your organization’s purpose and mission. In other words, the story you are telling doesn’t make sense in the context of the organizational environment. It’s fragmented, out of place, and you’ve failed to make the connections between urgency for action and where the organization is going.

#2: It’s Not the Right Timing 

This culprit has many victims. Timing can be broken into two categories: timing of messages and organizational timing. 

Timing of Messages

In his book When, Daniel Pink addresses the importance of the timing of daily activities. His research points out that there is an enormous impact on the desired outcomes based on when you perform certain tasks. 

Pink categorizes the day in three cycles: peak periods are best for analytical and focused work; trough periods are best for administrative work; and recovery periods are best for creative work. 

Be intentional about the timing of your messages so that your end receivers are in their prime state to hear them. I advise all my clients to avoid sending important organizational messages at the end of the week on Friday or near holiday periods. It is likely those messages would not be heard appropriately or embraced as intended. 

Organizational Timing

If there are more significant changes taking place in your organization, your message will likely get lost. The sequence of large transformational messages within your organization is important to your end receivers. If there are messages about layoffs, your project messages will likely be secondary, at best, to the critical information circulating within your organization. Be aware and mindful of your organization’s ecosystem so you can space important messages accordingly.

#3: You Are Not the Right Sender

Now this feels personal. Sometimes it is, but not always. According to the extensive research done by Prosci, employees expect to hear organizational vision messages from the executive leaders, while they expect messages about changes to their day-to-day work to come from their direct manager. This may be a question of adequate position and authority, or a question of trust and respect. Regardless, who sends the message is as important as the message itself. 

#4: Your Organizational Culture Is Dysfunctional 

You may have heard the expression, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This one may or may not be entirely in your control. People in your organization may have lost trust in the executive leaders and, as a result, disengaged from the work. Sick organizations have many symptoms of brokenness. Inefficient communication is just one among a slew of possible areas that need urgent attention.

#5: You Haven’t Told People What to Do

Some communications are well crafted, but miss an important component: they don’t outline step by step exactly what people need to do. If there is no specific action, your message won’t be heard and implemented. 

Due to the large volume of daily information consumed, people are scanning your messages for what’s expected of them. If they can’t quickly identify that content, they will likely preserve brainpower for more pressing activities that require their action.

Sow Your Messages Properly

If you’re struggling to get your employees on board with your message, consider whether any of the five issues listed above might be occurring at your organization. Chances are high that somewhere along the journey, you missed a step, jumped too far, turned too fast, and went off course. 

By addressing these problems and ensuring that the right person is sharing the right message at the right time, you can capture your employees’ attention and ensure that your words, like the sower’s seeds, are landing and growing into the transformational message you want them to be. 

For more advice on improving organizational communication, you can find No One’s Listening and It’s Your Fault on Amazon.

PAM MARMON is the CEO of Marmon Consulting, a change management consulting firm that provides strategy and execution services to help companies transform.