Communicating with employees

Improving managerial communications
Providing adequate management-employee communication

Context

Twenty years back a typical manager did not bother about communicating. With widespread public education, attitudes of employees have changed. They no longer just take orders from the boss and carry them out without question. Today the top and middle level executives typically devote 60 to 80 percent of their working hours in communicating. They are continually interacting with other people via conference, interviews, telephonic conversations, reading reports, letters, documents and face to face communication. their success depends largely on their ability to communicate, i.e. to speak, listen, read or write.

Claim

The communication gap produces frustration, grievances, agitation, non-cooperation, strike, poor employee performance, increased wastage, higher cost of production, drop in quality, loss in business etc.

Communication is more than the transmission of a message from one person to another. For communication to take place, the send of the message must actually get through to the receiver. Communication is a process by which: (1) information is exchanged; (2) relationship is formed or changed; (3) people are motivated to productive efforts; (4) the attitude of employees or managers is moulded.