Yes you did say it!
Remember that associate you walked by disrespecting another associate? You told them it was ok to disrespect your customer. Remember that associate who said “I haven’t slept in two days” but still you let her continue working? You told her it’s ok to get hurt on the job. Remember that associate you asked “How are you?” and she replied “So so” but yet you kept walking? You told her you really don’t care. Remember that associate who said “I feel uncomfortable” yet you didn’t stop to find out why? You told him that your company doesn’t care about the state of their employees. Oh wait, remember that associate who told that joke about the handicapped employee and you laughed and had no retort? You told him that it was ok not to care about the team.
You say it all the time to your associates, whether you hear it or not, they sure do. Communication is most certainly art not science, It’s a objective art form. It’s Maya Angelou on a stanza; It’s Michelangelo with his hands; It’s Ralph Emerson with a pen; It’s Martin Luther King speaking to one million men.
Consider what you don’t say to associates, it’s what they hear the most. Consider your approach, consider your body language, consider your non-action. If you turn your back to a hearing impaired associate who reads lips, you have just communicated something that will be remembered forever. Talking involves speech which involves sound, Communication is a transfer of information. They are certainly not one in the same.