importance of effective communication skills in relation to human resource management
...than people might expect during verbal communication. It is used by the means of body language, voice projection and personal presentation. These are all perceived in different ways by the recipient. The results of a study conducted by Dr. Ralph Nichols concluded that we communication 93% of the time not by what we say, but how we say it. Within an organisation it will be important to establish the communication channels that have been set up, whether decision-making processes are shared throughout the organisation and whether constructive feedback from the course would be useful. Communication is a way to bring about change. The key to getting commitment and support to change is through involvement. It is so important to develop internal communication strategies that truly involve people and engage them. Engagement generally comes from communication activities that are conversational, such as briefings, events and focus groups. There is often too much emphasis on traditional mass communication vehicles such as newsletters and intranets. These are useful to create high levels of awareness but it is common to find that there is a lack of personal understanding and commitment. A main need for human resource managers is to concentrate not on what communication does, but what it brings about. ‘Awareness is good, understanding is better but belief is the ultimate goal of communication.’ The function of communication is to ensure that every member of the organisation knows what is expected. Good communication is critics in ensuring coordination and control of individuals, groups and departments. It ensures that individuals know what is expected of them, that the appropriate person receives the correct information and that there is coordination within the organisation. It ensures control of the organisation’s plans, procedures and instructions that are given to staff by management, are understood. Group and team cohesiveness is encouraged and stress can be reduced. When each employee is hired by an organisation they sign a written contract with the human resource manager, describing what is expected from the employee and what the employee can expect in return. This is purely for the types of work involved, pay, financial rewards and incentives. However, the employee and the human resource manager also create a psychological contract during this process. This is where the employees learn the desires of the organisation, mission statement and what is expected of them between the lines of the employment contract. This is important because it sets the tone for behaviour and morals so that the employee can fit in as to the smooth running of the business as soon as possible. Many problems such as bias, distortion and omission are often the result of poor communication. However, these can be reduced and removed, as can secrecy, rumour and innuendo. The combination of these reductions can result in the reduction of conflict and is a key skill of the human resource managers, enabled with the use of communication. Clear and concise communication and the consequences of poor communication need to be understood. Poor communication leads to ineffective control, coordination and inevitably, management failure. Very often, the simplest barrier to communication is not recognised as such. It is a key role for human resource managers to understand how these problems arise and do their best to prevent them occurring. They also need to know the most appropriate solution to such a problem when it arises. This may vary in different organisations and for different groups and individuals in those organisations. It is the for the human resource managers to maintain communication so as to prevent conflict occurring and to know which is the best solution. In many organisations, directors, managers and staff use different phrases and expressions. The problem stems from many sources, from their personal background to sex, age and race. The concept of organisation ‘noise’ is often an issue. In this context ‘noise’ refers to the message being confused by matters unrelated to the topic, or overload, where too much information is being passed. Brevity, in these cases, is often the best way to ensure successful communication. Written communication is often more efficient at preventing ‘noise’ because it allows the transmitter to think carefully about the content before it is sent. Verbal communication allows room for ‘side-tracks’ and interruptions of useless information and is therefore often subject to ‘noise’. Good human resource management communicators know what they are going to say and with what emphasis and body language is needed for a certain group or individual, but often requires forward planning and spontaneous decisions my not be the best possible ones. When writing, it enables you to read it back to yourself before the intended recipient does, which enables a system of double-checking. Obviously, when communicating verbally, there is no such chance and a mistake will cause ‘noise’ and interrupt the flow of the communication. The different perception of individuals can lead to conflict within the organisation, and therefore to a communication barrier. The distance between those individuals communicating with each other can also cause conflict. This is often overlooked in the business environment and can lead to distortion of information and thus misunderstanding between departments and individuals. Communication cannot take place if there are barriers to the process. These must be recognised and, as far as possible, removed. Barriers to communication can be overcome by consideration of the needs and understanding of the recipients. Careful and clear reporting, clear expression and the avoidance of jargon or abbreviations are still required. The use of more than one communication system can assist, as does the encouragement of dialogue rather than monologue. And of course, ensuring that there are as few links as possible in the communication chain. Visual communication is a powerful communication medium and is often overlooked. Charts, slides, videos or films provide an immediate and clear message. People find it far easier to understand information through visual representation along with the verbal explanation. Electronic means of communication are increasingly becoming more relevant. Document imaging, fax, the Internet and e-mail are instantaneous and provide clear and fast communication possibilities. A commonly used aid for communication by human resource managers is ‘huddling’. This is the use of close groups of employees working together in small groups, informally and intimately. It is often considered as the most effective means of communication. It breaks down most of the communication barriers and allows a free flow of information and ideas. Managing while ‘walking about’ is another informal way of communicating. This involves walking around the workplace and talking to the employees, finding out what is going on, and if there are any problems. The majority of communication that managers have on a daily basis is with other managers; therefore ‘walking about’ increases the contact with the core of the organisation, the employees. The type of communication, and the medium used, will depend to a greater or lesser extent on the organisational structure. This will in turn be a function of the product or service and its environment. There are many forms of communication within an organisation, in both formal and informal means. Generally, in formal organisations, information flows through quite clear channels and in defined directions. Traditionally, the direction of the three main information flows is downward, upward and horizontal. Downward communication is associated with giving orders or instruction from senior management. This form of communication is often the one most easily recognised. Its purpose is to give specific directives, provide information about procedures and practices or provide information about the task in hand. Control of employees and information about their performance is an important use of downward communication, as is the provision of information on organisational and departmental objective. Upward communication is usually communication indicated from the employees and tends to be non-directive in nature. It generally takes two forms, personal problems or technical feedback, as part of the organisation’s control system Horizontal communication is increasingly important in modern organisations, especially as traditional communication theory assumes only vertical communication. Modern businesses have streamlined their structure in recent decades, in the understanding that hierarchy is inefficient. It can take the form of task coordination, such as department managers or supervisors meeting regularly or problem solving through department members meeting to resolve an issue by sharing ideas with other departments. It can resolve conflict and interdepartmental friction. The communication process: Torrington and Wieghtman (p.293, 1994) define communication as the deliberate attempt by managers, to achieve four main objectives. The first of these is regulation. This involves the conformity of behaviour of the employees with the organisation’s objectives. The second objective is innovation. This is key for any organisation to progress and change aspects of its functioning to improve. Integration is the third objective. It is essential for the morale of the workforce to feel part of, and identify with the organisation. Finally is the information that needs to be passed, for any reason from everyday duties to important executive decisions. There are many possible barriers to prevent these objectives being communicated effectively. When communicating face to face, the receptivity of the receiver is a very important factor. If there is a lack of interest, for any reason, then there is little point in passing the information on verbally. It would be far more effective if the information were sent through another means, such as email, so that the re...