Communication in business

Communication in business

Introduction

Communication refers to the act of relaying or exchanging information from one person or group to another by the use of a mutually understood medium. Communication can be through speaking, writing, signs, and symbols and a medium such as a telephone, television, and radio. Management is the process of organizing and controlling people or things within an organization to achieve specific goals. Communication in business is very vital because achieving goals is dependent on how one uses the information they have to plan on the best course of action that is to be taken.

Employee engagement

A lot of work in terms of research has been done about employee engagement, and business scholars agree that employee engagement is not a stand-alone subject because it is drawn from psychology and organizational behavior. There are multiple ways in which employee engagement can be looked at. The forms include; behavior, cognition, and effectiveness. According to Kahn (1990), personal engagement refers to “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances.” When information is shared with the right people, and within the period in which that information is relevant, then it is inevitable that measures can be put in place to adjust to the situation that the information is intended to address. According to research done by Chaudhary (2017), there exists a positive correlation involving employee engagement and cooperative social responsibility.

Deriving from Gupta and Sharma’s work, empirical evidence suggests that associates exposed to internal corporative social responsibility are more engaged than those that are solely engaged in external CSR. Strategy managers have a duty of communicating with the internal shareholders, the employees, on a variety of internal issues such as CSR as well as the innate affairs of the organization. Bakker, Albrecht, and Leiter’s work (2011) implies that internal communication incorporates the franchise culture that engages or disengages the associates. Nevertheless, there has been minimal research in public relation regarding internal communications (Tkalac Verčič, Verčič, & Sriramesh, 2012). Moreover, associates’ connections with the organization have been addressed with minimal attention. (Ruck & Welch, 2012).

Notably, a link exists between engagement and internal communication. According to Welch (2011), internal communication impacts on the engagement. Internal communication is significant in that it conveniently and efficiency instills organization values to all its worker’s various research have pointed out of a likely positive relationship existing between CSR and the associate’s engagement.

Predicting associate engagement

Most, if not all, organizations and businesses are usually involved in some CSR. Corporate social responsibility aims to contribute to the society by empowering the society so that they can achieve their goals. The society will always expect something from the business organizations, and these needs are not static. The needs of society will always change from time to time, and the expectations range from legal, ethical, and discretionary. It can be philanthropic or charitable, and sometimes it also includes volunteering. It is crucial to denote that communication revolves around actions, an accurate depiction of an organization characterized by excellent communication (Coombs & Holladay, 2012; Heath, 2001). Organizations must be committed to transparency when communicating with their associates. Employees ought to comprehend that organizational goals and the desired strategy that is to be used to achieve such goals. Employees should also be entitled to an opinion, an opinion that is genuinely taken into serious consideration. Internal communication is vital for enhancing and building transparency in an organization.

Additionally, it engages the employees in line with the company’s priorities while fostering their engagement (Jiang & Men, 2017). Communication in business can be utilized in the determination of employee’s level of commitment because employees’ perception on the corporate social responsibilities and policies of an organization is determined by the information that the organization communicates to the employees. Information about corporate social responsibility initiatives is communicated to the employees internally. Internal corporate communication is designed to relay information to all employees indiscriminately, and this is important because it gives employees a sense of belonging and ownership. It fosters employee engagement, promotes commitment to the organization, and it also makes the employees aware of the dynamic business environment in which they are operating. The awareness makes them flexible to any particular changing needs enabling them to take swift actions without resistance. Empirical studies point out that positive relationship prevalence in corporative social responsibility and employee’s level of engagement is evident.

Nonetheless, there are harmful effects to interpersonal interactions yielded by over engagement, resulting in workplace pressure. Ultimately, it can lead to employee’s withdrawal (MacCormick, Dery, & Kolb, 2012). This means that elevating the levels of employee engagement limitlessly is discouraged. A variety of scholars comprehends each other in the fact that communication is essential in enhancing and improving employee engagement (Pugh & Dietz, 2008).

Employee performance management

According to Fletcher and Williams (1996), employee performance management is amalgamated with “creating a shared vision of the purpose and aims of the organization, helping each employee to understand and recognize their part in contributing to them, and in so doing to manage and enhance the employee performance of both individuals and the organization”.

There exist a close relationship between the management of the employee’s performance and human resource management systems. When an associate’s current and future performance is maximized in line with human resource management best practices, then the overall organizational employee performance will be affected. It should be noted that increased employee performance ultimately increases both the employee’s productivity and organizational output.

The policies and systems in the human resource management system and the employee management system are designed with a purpose, and they should result in higher efforts by the employee, higher levels of job satisfaction, and greater willingness to work within the organization. The employee management system should also significantly reduce the instances of employee absence from work. An associate’s perception is taken into account during the evaluation of the relation between HRM and other kinds of both (Paauwe, 2009). Employee performance appraisals should be in line with the laid down corporate objectives.

Research carried out by Levy, Cawley, and Foti (1998) implied that systems know-how is essential and an influencer on fairness perceptions. Employees need to know that the system exists and how it works. The achievement of this lies in the effectiveness of internal corporate communication. When they understand how the system works, they feel that they are in control of their feelings, and the result is a perception. Employees do not need to be surprised or shocked by appraisals because if they understand the system, then they know when the assessments take place, why, and what one is required to do to qualify for the appraisal.

Effects of internal communication

Internal corporate communication can result in a positive or negative impact, depending on how it is carried out. If it is done gradually and effectively, the results are positive, which leads to higher organizational output, which later translates to higher revenues. In an organization where two-way communication is encouraged, and employees’ opinions taken into consideration, success is halfway guaranteed. Associates can directly interact with their superiors freely and more frequently (Men & Bowen, 2017).

Employees within a given organization work with their juniors or superiors. It is vital to note that the interaction between subordinates and their supervisors can have either a rewarding effect or a detrimental one. It is this kind of interactions that shape the feelings and perceptions of the employees. Communication has a significant impact on workers feeling towards the organizational culture and the willingness to continue working in such an organization. The communication style of leaders in an organization promotes the corporate culture while it affects the employees’ experiences, feelings, and the perception they have about the organization.

Conclusion

The role played by communication in business cannot be exhausted. Still, in the context of this review, internal communication enhances employee engagement, assists in predicting employer engagement, and helps in acknowledging and understanding how the employee performance management system work.

References

Coombs, T. W., & Holladay, S. J. (2012). Managing corporate social responsibility: A communication approach. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Heath, R. L. (Ed.). (2001). Handbook of public relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Jiang, H., & Men, R. L. (2017). Creating an engaged workforce: The impact of authentic leadership, transparent organizational communication, and work-life enrichment. Communication Research, 44(2),

MacCormick, J. S., Dery, K., & Kolb, D. G. (2012). Engaged or just connected?–Smartphones and employee engagement. Organizational Dynamics, 41(3), 194–201.

Men, R. L., & Bowen, S. A. (2017). Excellence in internal relations management. New York: Business Expert Press.

Pugh, S. D., & Dietz, J. (2008). Employee engagement at the organizational level of analysis. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(1), 45–48.

Tkalac Verčič, A., Verčič, D., & Sriramesh, K. (2012). Internal communication: Definition, parameters, and the future. Public Relations Review, 38(2), 223–230.