Workplaces in America are in big trouble. If you run a team or own a business, chances are your employees are mentally checking out, and even hate working for you.

According to Kristi Hedges on Forbes.com, “Among other things, recent studies reveal that 48% of employees worldwide don’t even like their jobs, more than 80% of U.S. workers feel stressed at the office, and only 30% feel ‘engaged and inspired’ by their careers. Especially troubling for leaders and business owners, 18% are actively disengaged – that is, present at work but hating every minute of it.”

48% of employees worldwide don’t like their jobs

Fortunately, there is a solution. There are companies in America, and all over the world, where employees love what they do and are excited to show up for work.

“When employees are engaged, they adopt the vision, values, and purpose of the organization they work for. They become passionate contributors, innovating problem solvers, and stunning colleagues,” reports TalentCulture.

But do you know the greatest hurdle to cultivating engaged employees?

A lack of communication.

Most team members, no matter how long they have been with you, don’t know why you are in business, who you are trying to help, why you are trying to help, and how they can best be of help in your business.

That leaves everyone making incorrect assumptions.

A lack of communication leads to a lack of clarity of purpose. Without purpose, team members don’t see progress. The research firm, EmployeeConnect, found that if employees do not consistently see progress in their projects, they have a greater risk of becoming disengaged.

All of this means you need to be consistently communicating to your staff and getting them ingrained in your core values and company culture.

The secret to success in this communication is REPETITION.

You must tell them over and over and over again the following:

a) Your origin story

b) Your mission

c) Your vision

d) Your core values

You can never stop repeating your message. You must never stop finding new stories to illustrate these four points. Your team needs to hear and see examples every week, if not daily.

Even if you think they are sick of hearing about these four points, the truth is they still don’t truly understand your story, mission, vision, and values. That’s why you have to sound like a broken record, but in a good, positive, and entertaining way (with stories and examples).

Otherwise, people forget that you once struggled. They forget why you started the business. They only see you as the successful, wealthy business owner. And if they don’t know your humble origins, it can lead to an adversarial relationship with your team (if there is poor communication).

Tell your story, repeat your mission of helping others, be clear about the future of the company, and share examples of your core values in action.

For example, I do this in a weekly email to our team at my business, Early to Rise. Each week in the newsletter I point out a team member that is living ETR’s core values. I also do a little write-up on a staff member’s story, including where they were born, why they love working at ETR, etc.

Each week I share our company’s results (we’re transparent with the sales data, refunds, big accomplishments, and company failures) with all members of our team (even our customer service team in the Philippines).

I have written over 250 issues of this team update newsletter and have NEVER missed a week in five years. It’s very important for staff education, training, and purpose.

Here are the 9 sections of my weekly newsletter:

1. How ETR is doing (revenue report)
2. What ETR is doing next (promo plan)
3. Customer Story (or Question) of the Week
4. Success Stories & Testimonials of the Week
5. How We Are Serving the ETR Mission
6. What is my dog, Bally, doing? (This is the most popular part of the update! I put this in for fun and because everyone truly wants to know.)
7. ETR Team Member Example of the Week
8. What Do YOU Think? (I ask team members for suggestions on problems or opportunities in the business)
9. ETR Core Value in Action (This is where I tell a story about a team member, or someone famous, following one of ETR’s eight Core Values.)

Your update doesn’t need to be this extensive. Mine is almost too long, but it’s because I like to write and share stories about others. You can keep it brief and start with sections 1, 2, 4, 7, and 9. You can also choose to do a VIDEO version instead. That’s probably faster for you, and your team might enjoy it more. However, I’m on a streak of 250 newsletters so I can’t stop writing! I also need the practice.