Effective Internal Communication - Literature review Example

Effective Internal Communication Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Abstract 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Nature of Internal Communication 5 2.1 Importance of internal Communication 5 2.2 Cause of internal Communication problems 6 2.3 Principles to effective Internal Communication 6 2.4 Structures Supporting effective internal communication 7 3.0 Internal Communication Case Study on Glasgow Housing Association -Think Yes! 9 4.0 Conclusion 10 References 11 Abstract The concept of communication forms the most essential part of the general society, governments or institutions. It is only through mutual and universally accepted communication systems that individuals are in a position to share, send and receive information irrespective of vitality scale. Organizations and institutions in specific persist to experience two distinct categories of communication consisting of the external communication and internal communication. The analysis compiled in this report attempts to discuss in detail the internal communication by ascertaining the problems associated with it, principle to effective internal communication and structures supporting internal communication amongst others and basing such principalities on a pre identified case study and its implications. Internal communication generally is dependent on the ability of staff to freely, openly and professionally converse amongst themselves towards solving major as well as minor problems. Effective internal communication policies are undisputedly necessary in solving workplace conflicts and making major decisions that would steer the business forward. The subsequent section addresses such crucial factors in detail. With respect to the ascertained research outcomes it can be proven that indeed proper internal communication strategies are undisputedly necessary for the growth and in goal achievement of all organizations and institutions. Organizations must endeavour embracing effective internal communication strategies to enhance satisfaction amongst employees as well as to customers. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION Case study of employee management 1.0 Introduction Most scholars succinctly and precisely define communication as the transfer of information from the sender to receiver through a pre-identified channel. Berkenkotter and Huckin, (2016) define communication as the process of conveying the intended meaning from one party to another. Malhotra, & Ackfeldt, (2016) however suggest that for communication to effectively and efficiently assist organizations meet their goals, it is impeccably necessary to realize the implications of internal communication on the any form of interaction. In their research, Malhotra, & Ackfeldt, (2016) argue that internal communication is the corporate transfer and sharing of information between two indentified parties within the same business or setting enterprise for instance the communication between an employee and the employer or communication among employees themselves. Internal communication is a vital tool in corporate management since it provides orientation to the general business fraternity on expected results, upcoming changes, making decisions at various levels and in ensuring efficiency in undertaking daily business operations. Making decisions and communication of the results forms one of the crucial parts of a robust organizational strategy (Meen et al 2016). Strategic decisions must be made by board of directors and the communicated to the tactical decision makers who essentially are the board business management outlay. The managers must thereafter instruct and supervise the operational decision makers who are essentially the operational employees by providing them with accurate and complete information of the expected periodical outcomes say daily. 2.0 Nature of Internal Communication 2.1 Importance of internal Communication Clever business institutions place the interest of its employees at the centre of its operations by recognizing that employees would forever indulge in conversations about the company. Therefore the onset for developing the company is by recognizing the central game played by the employees hence, the organization must ensure that only relevant information reaches the employees (Castillo, 2016). However, this does not literally mean that organizations should confide information to themselves but rather be open and provide candid information to responsive individuals. Most Psychologists propose that proper communication enhances employees’ propensity to report to duty zealously or to contribute to the effective achievement of corporate goals. Organizations must realize that environments which foster faster and efficient transfer of information stands a better chance to meet organizational goals within the shortest time possible (Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014). There is necessity for organizations to retain its top cream of the employees’ fraternity by communicating with them effectively, and informing them of the organizational plans for them. Finally, internal communication is critical in assigning duties to relevant parties, supervise them effectively and assess their performance as a strategy towards increasing output. With respect to the information compiled herein, it can therefore be deduced that there are four essential elements towards effective internal communication including focussing on set corporate goals, comprehension of ideas presented in written form, associated with measurable outcomes as well as ensuring time positivism. 2.2 Cause of internal Communication problems Poor effective leadership enhances improper leadership skills which hinders the manager’s abilities to communicate efficiently with their junior employees which in return lead to poor communication deliveries. Secondly, uncertain objectives and roles also act as a barrier to effective communication, the organizational goals and the roles are vague hence creating conflicting roles and duties among the employees since there is no clear plan on how the organization ought to carry out its activities (Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014). Thirdly, the undertrained employees who will interfere with the information thus delivering wrong or insufficient information which in turn will affect the entire activities in the organization, since the communication is very vital as far as the company’s activities are concerned (Mishra Boynton & Mishra, 2014). Forth, limited feedback, the response the employers and employees expects from each other may be so limited that it corrupts the entire communication system. Insufficient feedback inflicts suspicion which in turn causes havoc in the organization’s setup. Fifthly, employee’s disengagement as far as decision making is concerned, making the employees to feel as outsiders. Since this hinders the employee’s motivations, it may also prevent the employee from raising concern on what might affect the performance, or giving ideas on how current crises can be managed in order to prevent them (Leal et al 2015). Lastly, virtual players, this concerns the technology, using outdated technology hinders faster delivery of information which in turn affects the effective performance in the organization. 2.3 Principles to effective Internal Communication Transparency of the stakeholders in the roles and activities they undertake, which should be precious. Both the employers and the employees should not have some unclear programs to one another and the leader should not hold some information to them without the junior’s knowledge. Consistency in the activities of the organization, as the goals and the roles communicated should not oppose or contradict each other (Jiménez-Castillo, 2016). The basic communication medium should be effective so that it don’t offer challenge during the execution. Visibility of the leaders to their employees, the free mingling and frequent association with employees will tend to create a sense of belonging and also will help to understand the problems facing the junior employees. As a result it will try to enhance efficient upward and downward communication in the organization with limited challenges which might pose problems. Authenticity, the characteristics, skills and knowledge should be truly reflected in performance. The communicative policies should also be legitimate enough so as to improve the transparency. Lastly, faster information delivery, which will ensure all the stakeholders receive first-hand information from their leaders before receiving them from secondary sources like in radios and television (Meen, Gibb, Leishman & Nygaard, 2016). The communication system should be effective and faster that the information required can be able to be delivered at appropriate time and format and the feedback received in the rightful manner and time. This will help to avoid the rise of conflicting roles and foals. 2.4 Structures Supporting effective internal communication There two basic structures which are of immense importance in promoting effective and efficient internal communication within any set up more so in an organisational set-up. With regard to this assertion, internal communication can be looked at in two perspectives, that is, downward communication and upward communication (Malhotra and Ackfeldt, 2016). These two structures take into account the rank and position of the communication participants within the organisational hierarchy. Downward communication involves conveying of information from a employee of a senior rank or a manager to a colleague of a junior rank. Downward communication is particularly important in ensuring that organisational policies and decision formulated at the top managerial levels are disseminated to the employees of the organisation and the target clients (Jiménez-Castillo, 2016). Downward communication is important in convention of management meetings with the employees. Regular management meetings are important for the success of any organisation as it helps to streamline various issues, major and minor, that affect the organisation. Downward communication is also an essential component in performance appraisal and success evaluation within the organisation (Leal et al., 2015). This is achieved through meetings, conventions and direct communication from the management and leadership to the employees in order to, among others, celebrate major organisational achievements and review employee performance; inspiring a sense of motivation in the employees. Upward communication involves the relaying of information from an employee of a junior rank to a colleague of a senior rank or management officer (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014). This enables employees to report their progress regularly to supervisors and management as well as seeking clarifications on orders and policies, and suggesting measures and approaches to better the performance of the organisation. Upward and downward communication, if incorporated properly work jointly to improve organisational performance. 2.5 Effective internal Communication plan Effective internal communication strategy is an essential part of any single glorious organization as it plays an elementary role in permeating all the level of communication. Planning for effective internal communication begins by realizing the number of audience that the plan attempt to address. An organization with relatively large number of employees requires much wider communication plan to address its needs. Additionally, the organization requires recognizing the relevant means and modes of communication it shall use to relay information to the determined audience (Meen, Gibb, Leishman and Nygaard, 2016). Further, the internal communication plan or system is dependent on the urgency of the information to be communicated. The urgency determines whether to keep to the chain of command or communicate directly to the concerned person irrespective of the chain. Furthermore, the plan should recognize the volume of the information to be relayed. Important and voluminous information might be presented in print form so as to enhance reference and retrieval (Jiménez-Castillo, 2016). Finally, the organization must determine the quantity and quality of resources at their disposal. Business organizations require modern information systems in sharing and conveying information. Modern information systems like Transactional Processing Systems (TPS), Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMS), Business Intelligence Systems (IS) and Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) should be utilized at the respective levels of management with references to Management Pyramid to help foster effective internal communication(Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014). 3.0 Internal Communication Case Study on Glasgow Housing Association -Think Yes! The Glasgow Housing Association, GHA aims at providing housing services to people around Africa as well as globally. GHA main services consist of assisting people find comfortable homes, Furnishing the clients’ homes, Home Insurance amongst other housing associated services. The executive team of the Association perceived it right to take the customer service to the new level by enhancing their customers service techniques. To undertake the new strategy, the team considered it crucial to empower staff programmes as part of motivations towards tailoring them towards adopting the new strategy of attending effectively and efficiently to customers at first point of contact. The campaign on the new strategy branded “Think-Yes” took place on the principle that customer service begins by effective internal communication by assessing employee’s capability to communicate effectively horizontally amongst themselves as well as longitudinally with their seniors or juniors. The piloted introduction of Think Yes campaign to GHA staff on July 2011aimed at enhancing the quality of customer service through assisting the staff towards realizing the importance of effective communication with the organizational staff as well as the customers and being positive to problems arising from customers’ requests (Meen et al 2016). The enormous success of the piloting projected the campaign to the entire organization which got launched on May 2012. The Think Yes campaign resulted in tremendous enhancements of communication strategies resulting into remarkable increase in customer satisfaction as well as enhanced staff relations and satisfactions among the 1650 staff members. The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Martin Armstrong had initially visited the piloting areas and met with the staff members where he explained that the aim of Think Yes was to assist staff take pride in their work and take actions to delight the customers (Meen et al 2016). Early 2013, GHA through its media department launched a new strategy of publishing staff newsletters. The newsletters reminded the staff of the organizational culture, the aims of the business and strategies of promoting the Think Yes campaign. The company has currently created posters, screen savers and other branding elements as strategies of enhancing internal communication as well as consumer satisfaction. Since the launching of Think Yes strategy, staff job satisfaction has increased substantially by 23% from 62% to 85% as customer satisfaction increased by 6%. Despite the strategy costing GHA an annual cost of %45,000 it has significantly and proportionately enhanced sales as well as organizational returns (Malhotra and Ackfeldt, A. L. (2016). 4.0 Conclusion Internal Communication is indeed a vital aspect of communication that each and every organization or society should work towards enhancing. Organizational performance is directly dependent on the ability of the staff members to communicate freely and openly to each other irrespective of the different levels. Despite the problems associated with ineffective internal communication and challenges attached to it, internal communication still remains a vital aspect and organizations have to devise ways of dealing with problems by applying the principles to effective internal communication. Effective internal communication is bases its efficiency on the structure of the organization and the chain of command hence organizations must realize and be positive to upward and downward communication patterns. Just like in the case study where GHA used Think Yes strategy, organizations must devise effective communication plan which would assist in fostering internal communication processes enhancing staff as well as customer satisfaction. References Berkenkotter, C., & Huckin, T. N. (2016). Genre knowledge in disciplinary communication: Cognition/culture/power. Routledge. Malhotra, N., & Ackfeldt, A. L. (2016). Internal communication and prosocial service behaviors of front-line employees: Investigating mediating mechanisms. Journal of Business Research, 69(10), 4132-4139. Jiménez-Castillo, D. (2016). Beyond mere information transfer: The importance of a relational approach to market-related internal communication. Journal of Public Relations Research, 1-14. Newman, A. (2016). Communication Planning: A Template for Organizational Change. Meen, G., Gibb, K., Leishman, C., & Nygaard, C. (2016). Speculation, Sub-division, Banking Fraud and Enlightened Self-interest: The Making of the Contemporary Glasgow Housing System. In Housing Economics (pp. 137-163). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), 183-202. Leal, C., Marques, C., Marques, C., & Braga-Filho, E. (2015, April). Internal Communication, Intellectual Capital and job Satisfaction: A Structural Model Applied to a Credit Union. In European Conference on Intellectual Capital (p. 199). Academic Conferences International Limited. Read More