Gulsheen,
Here are some useful points for your exercise.
ORGANIZATION/EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS
Organizations function by means of the collective action of people, yet each individual is capable of taking independent action, which may not be in line with policy or instructions, or may not be reported properly to other people who ought to know about it. Good communications are required to achieve coordinated results.
Good two-way communications are required so that management can keep employees informed of the policies and plans affecting them, and employees can react promptly with their views about management's proposals and actions. Change cannot be managed properly without an understanding of the feelings of those affected by it, and an efficient system of communications is needed to understand and influence these feelings.
COMMUNICATION AREAS AND OBJECTIVES
The main communication areas and their associated objectives are:
MANAGERIAL
AREA 1: The communication downwards and sideways of corporate or functional objectives, policies, plans, and budgets to those who have to implement them.
Objective 1: To ensure that managers and supervisors receive clear, accurate, and prompt information on what they are expected to achieve to further the company's objectives.
AREA 2: The communication downwards of direct instructions from a manager to a subordinate on what the latter has to do.
Objective 2: To ensure that the instructions are clear and precise and provide the necessary motivation to get people into action.
AREA 3: The communication upwards and sideways of proposals, suggestions, and comments on corporate or functional objectives, policies, and budgets from those who have to implement them.
Objective 3: To ensure that managers and supervisors have adequate scope to influence corporate and functional decisions on matters about which they have specific expertise and knowledge.
AREA 4: The communication upwards and sideways of management information on performance and results.
Objective 4: To enable management to monitor and control performance so that, as necessary, opportunities can be exploited or swift corrective action taken.
INTERNAL RELATIONS
AREA 5: The communication downwards of information on company plans, policies, or performance.
Objective 5: To ensure that employees are kept informed of matters that affect them, especially changes to working conditions, and factors influencing their prosperity and security; employees are encouraged to identify themselves more completely with the company.
AREA 6: The communication upwards of the comments and reactions of employees to what is proposed will happen or what is actually happening in matters that affect them.
Objective 6: To ensure that employees are given an opportunity to voice their suggestions and fears and that the company is in a position to amend its plans in the light of these comments.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
AREA 7: The receipt and analysis of information from outside that affects the company's interests.
Objective 7: To ensure that the company is fully aware of all the information on legislation and on marketing, commercial, financial, and technological matters that affect its interests.
AREA 8: The presentation of information about the company and its products to the government, customers, and the public at large.
Objective 8: To exert influence in the interests of the company, to present a good image of the company, and to persuade customers to buy its products or services.
Employee relations are mainly affected by managerial and internal communications, although external communications are an additional channel of information. The strategy for managerial communications is concerned with planning and control procedures, management information systems, and techniques of delegating and giving instructions. The procedures and skills can be developed by training programs.
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
The strategy for internal communications should be based on analyses of:
- What management wants to say;
- What employees want to hear;
- The problems being met in conveying or receiving information.
These analyses can be used to indicate the systems of communication that need to be developed and the education and training programs required to make them work. They should also provide guidance on how communications should be managed and timed. Bad management and poor timing are frequently the fundamental causes of ineffective communication.
What management wants to say depends upon an assessment of what employees need to know, which, in turn, is affected by what they want to hear.
Management usually aims to achieve three things:
- To get employees to understand and accept what management proposes to do in areas that affect them;
- To obtain the commitment of employees to the objectives, plans, and values of the Organization;
- To help employees appreciate more clearly the contribution they can make to organizational success and how it will benefit them.
Communications from management should be about values, plans, intentions, and proposals (with the opportunity for discussion with and feedback from employees), as well as about achievements and results.
What employees want to hear:
Clearly, employees want to hear about and comment upon the matters that affect their interests. These will include changes in working methods and conditions, changes in the arrangements for overtime and shift working, company plans that may affect pay or security, and changes in terms and conditions of employment. It is management's job to understand what employees want to hear and plan its communications strategy accordingly. Understanding can be obtained by conducting 'focus groups' discussions that bring together groups of employees to focus on particular issues that concern them, by means of attitude surveys, by asking employee representatives, by informally listening to what employees say, and by analyzing grievances to see if improved communications could modify them.
Analyzing communication problems:
Specific examples of employee relations problems where communication failures have been the cause or a contributory factor should be analyzed to determine exactly what went wrong and what needs to be done to put it right. The problems may include lack of appropriate channels of communication, lack of appreciation of the need to communicate, and lack of skill in overcoming the many formidable barriers to communication. Problems with channels of communication can be dealt with by introducing new or improved communications systems. Lack of skill is a matter for education and training.
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
Communication systems can be divided into those using an intranet, using the written word such as magazines, newsletters, bulletins, and notice boards, and using oral methods such as meetings, briefing groups, and public address systems. The aim should be to make judicious use of a number of channels to ensure that the message gets across.
Communications through an intranet system:
Organizations are increasingly relying on an internal email system (the intranet) to communicate information, especially in workplaces where all or most of the employees have direct or indirect access to a computer. The advantage of intranet communications is that they can be transmitted swiftly to a wide audience. They can also be used for two-way communications – employees can be invited to respond to questions or surveys.
Magazines:
Glossy magazines or house journals are an obvious way to keep employees informed about the company and are often used for public relations purposes as well. They can extol and explain the achievements of the company and may thus help to increase identification and even loyalty. If employees are encouraged to contribute (although this is difficult), the magazine can become more human. The biggest danger of this sort of magazine is that it becomes a public relations exercise that is seen by employees as having little relevance to their everyday affairs.
Newsletters:
Newsletters aim to appear more frequently and to angle their contents more to the immediate concerns of employees than the glossier form of a house magazine. To be effective, they should include articles specifically aimed at explaining what management is planning to do and how this affects everyone. They can also include more chatty 'human interest' material about the doings of employees to capture the attention of readers. Correspondence columns can provide an avenue for the expression of employees' views and replies from management, but no attempt should be made to censor letters (except those that are purely abusive) or to pull punches in reply. Anonymous letters should be published if the writer gives his name to the editor.
The key factor in the success of a newsletter or any form of a house magazine is the editor, who should be someone who knows the company and its employees and can be trusted by everyone to be frank and fair. Professional expertise is obviously desirable, but it is not the first consideration, as long as the editor can write reasonably well and has access to expert help in putting the paper together. It is often a good idea to have an editorial board consisting of management and employee representatives to advise and assist the editor.
Organizations often publish a newsletter in addition to a house magazine, treating the latter mainly as a public relations exercise and relying on the newsletter as the prime means of communicating with employees.
Bulletins:
Bulletins can be used to give immediate information to employees that cannot wait for the next issue of a newsletter; or they can be a substitute for a formal publication if the company does not feel that the expense is justified. Bulletins are useful only if they are distributed quickly and are seen by all interested employees. They can simply be posted on notice boards or, more effectively, given to individual employees and used as a starting point for a briefing session if they contain information of sufficient interest to merit a face-to-face discussion.
Notice boards:
Notice boards are an obvious but frequently misused medium for communications. The biggest danger is allowing boards to be cluttered up with uninteresting or out-of-date material. It is essential to control what goes on the boards and to appoint responsible people to service them by removing out-of-date or unauthorized notices.
A more impressive show can be made of notices and other material if an information center is set up in the canteen or some other suitable place where the information can be displayed in a more attractive and compelling manner than on a typical notice board.
Employee involvement:
Employee involvement through means such as consultative committees provides a channel for two-way communication. Sometimes, however, they are not particularly effective, either because their thunder has been stolen by union negotiation committees, or because their proceedings are overformalized and restricted and fail to address the real issues. It is essential to disseminate the information revealed at committees around the offices and works, but it is impossible to rely on committee members to do this. Minutes can be posted on notice boards, but they are seldom read, usually because they contain too much redundant material.
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