The Importance of Communication

From the desk of Will Downer

Welcome to 2013! These days it seems like with a little bit of effort we can accomplish anything we want using technology. When you think about how far technology has come in the recent years, it's almost scary to think about where it's headed. The mailed letter and newspaper are quickly being phased out in favor of newer, faster, and-let's face it-cooler technology. Now you have the ability to Skype with someone living on the other side of the world. You can walk down the street in New York City and FaceTime with someone in Los Angeles. You can send an email to thousands of people with a few clicks of a button. You can even spam voicemails now by sending prerecorded messages to large numbers of recipients; leaving interactive voicemails people can respond to! Business today is conducted instantly with tools like Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and other countless social media and technology platforms. Things couldn't be better and communication couldn't be easier, right?

Wrong, false, incorrect, and completely inaccurate! I think the art of communication is quickly becoming extinct. Can we reach more people much faster than we used to? Absolutely! Does it mean anything? Not at all!

Now that I have filled my quota for exclamation points let me get to the point. In my personal experience, I think with technology such as mass emails, twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook, the ability to genuinely communicate has faded. There's no real personal interaction and the end result is that if you rely on electronic communication for all your communications, your risk being perceived as distant or impersonal. Next time you take public transportation, wait in line for something, or are in a large group of people, take a look around... everyone's head is buried in their smart phone. Communication nowadays lacks the most critical element- a personal touch. Most recruiters these days seem to be sending bulk emails and hoping for a response. What happened to picking up the phone and calling someone? Even outside of the workplace folks would much rather send a text than actually converse on the phone.

Finally, the ability to be able to effectively communicate and adapt communication styles is quickly becoming extinct (especially with the younger generations). As a young professional, I think one of the keys to my success early on was my ability to communicate effectively. There is a much different communication style during a casual conversation with a colleague versus a C- level executive. The ability to know your audience and how to approach a conversation is an art form; mastering it is a matter of both practice and intuition.

In conclusion, technology is great and I love it (I have made my career in IT, after all), but sometimes you have to put down the tablet or smart phone and put on a smile and make eye contact. Get out there and meet people, grab coffee, have lunch, talk to people and get to know them. You'll see the results in the growth of your professional network.

 Vaco is awarded the 2013 Alliance for Workplace Excellence Seal of Approval.

The Alliance has recognized the Greater Washington, D.C. area's best places to work for the past fourteen years.  This year, AWE has recognized organizations from across the United States.  The 68 winning companies represent more than one million employees from organizations of all sizes and in all sectors-private, public, and nonprofit. Vaco won this award in 2011 and 2012.  

Vaco Named One of 2013 Best Places to Work in Virginia

Vaco Richmond was recently named as one of the 2013 Best Places to Work in Virginia. The annual list of "Best Places to Work" was created by Virginia Business and Best Companies Group.  This survey and award program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Virginia, benefiting the state's economy, its work force and businesses.

Organizations from across the state entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in Virginia. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top organizations and the final ranking. Vaco won this award in 2012 as well.