EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AS A DETERMINANT OF EMPLOYEE JOB PERFORMANCE IN CALEB UNIVERSITY
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Organizations are concerned with individual employee’s performance because this Performance determines how well the organization is able to achieve its objectives. Leadership is a very crucial factor in the management process and means influence on the behavior of others in order to achieve the organizational purpose.
Dwyer (2005) defined communication as the process whereby people within an organization give and receive messages. Many researchers assert that communication in organization has significant effect on employees’ job performance. (Yammarino and Naughton, 1988; Myers and Myers, 1993; McCormikc, 2008; Leiter, 1988; Miles et al., 1996; Goris, 2000). In organization people communicate with each other in different ways. Messages may move downward and upward between hierarchical levels or horizontally among employees at equivalent level (Odden and Sias, 1997; Dwyer, 2005; Goldhaber, 1993).
Communication can occur through informal channels such as grapevines or formal channels such as procedures and official meetings (Johnson et al., 1994; Goldhaber, 1993; Vroom, 1964; Rauschenberg, 1988). Effective communications is seen as an essential element of the organization environment that ought to inform employees of industry challenges, what is happening in the workplace and the company’s strategic intent. Beyerlein et al. (2003) states it is management responsibility to align support systems in the strategic design so that employees can communicate their needs and frustrations, as this will keep an organization functioning effectively and make the most of people who are an organizations greatest resource. Furthermore, other studies have investigated openness of communication have direct relationship with job satisfaction (Klauss and Bass, 1982; Trombetta and Rogers, 1988).
Communication is concerned with the exchange of information and understanding among the personnel of an organization. All managerial activities involve communication. Everybody in an organization is involved in one form of communication: or another; one is either giving information or receiving information (McCormikc, 2008)
Indeed, human resources remain the most important asset of any organization and should be well informed, trained and motivated to use all other resources resourcefully. When a human being is informed, trained and motivated, he is capable of achieving higher productivity. The success of any productivity or job performance programmes depends on human innovative ideas and creativity. This has made it imperative for management to look more closely into the human factor and examine what it takes to maximize human endeavour towards maximum productivity or job performance improvement. Obviously, high productivity or job performance depends upon the effectiveness o1’the workforce. Managers must actively search for better ways of communicating, taking decisions, creating innovations and producing leadership to achieve higher productivity. Productivity is then the relation between output and input, a measurement of the degree of efficiency with which resources of all kind are transformed into goods.
The willingness of workers to exert their energy in the interest of turning out the goods or services that the company is in business to produce is based on voluntary cooperation. Company can compete for a long time in the open market when it has its employees on its side. High job performance or productivity and morale depend on the individual knowledge of his rights and responsibilities in an organization. The big test of management is not how to handle the machines but how to handle its workers. This is often the most difficult to deal with, not because they consist of difficult people, but because of natural differences in point of view tend to keep management and workers apart. The result has been a new emphasis on the role of communication as it relates to employee job performance in management. The relation of communication to management gives a balanced picture of the role which information plays-building good relation inside an organization.
One aspect of communication is the device or means which may be utilized to promote the effective exchange of information necessary to the conduct of business and transportation system for ideas and information. Effective communication is therefore required in an organization to increase the level of understanding among various people and harmonize their efforts in achieving corporate goals. It will maximize the amount of efforts being invested in the production process and is used to train the employee to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency. As the organization grows larger, the gap between the employees an employer widens. The employer has little or no knowledge of the employees’ problems and the employee has little knowledge of product, market, and competitors’ activities and other problems related to the conduct of business. The lack of knowledge regarding the necessity of a reason for an action or decision problem inherent in every organization needs insight into this nagging, concrete work level (Dwyer, 2005).
Caleb University’s management must recognize that subordinates will listen to informal communication of the grapevine with its inaccuracies and half-truths, if adequate information is not officially provided. A fraction of the time spent trying to find out how and where the grapevine gets its information, if spent on getting timely and accurate materials to the workers would enhance their productivity. Essentially, the role of effective communication in enhancing job performance in an organization cannot be overstated. Strained employee-employer relationship results from lack of understanding or poor communication. Workers need to be free and comfortable making innovative suggestions, clarifying any misunderstanding about themselves and their work or asking questions to help them understand a procedure, an instruction, or other expectations on the job.
Freedom of speech is one of the most important emerging employee rights, in the sense that it is at the core of the communication endeavour and may fundamentally alter workplace interactions. Issues under this range from the right to a job, to rights that literally focus on every conceivable facet of a worker’s tenure on the job rights to work, job security, due process, occupational health and safety, privacy, good faith, fair dealing, oral and implied contract, plant closing notification, self- responsibility, statutory privilege, etc. In summary, communication is define within a right context, as a set of information sharing activities that help employers protect themselves or strengthen their efforts while dealing with the rights “ related concerns of workers.
The rights and responsibilities of employees are conveyed through implicit and explicit media. The implicit through organizational culture and behavioural cue communicated to employees by actions of management. The explicit conveyor is the work rules “ they are typically communicated to employees through orientation sessions, training programmes, employee handbooks, policy manuals, verbal exchanges, company bulletin-boards, etc. Employee rights and responsibilities are inseparable from organizational policies and practices.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
One of the biggest challenges in management has been the implementation of effective communication strategies to improve organizational performance. The effectiveness of communication in various organizations has long been under scrutiny. This intense scrutiny has been against the backdrop of the low performance and inefficiency that characterized Nigerian institution particularly in assessing its role on employee’s job performance. Some of the challenges encountered during are listed buttressed below:
Poor listening skill served as one of problem encountered during communication in the sense that some individuals within an organization may not be proficient in the art of listening. During a one-on-one interaction with an employee, a supervisor may be intent on providing direction without giving the opportunity for employee input, leading to a project being completed incorrectly.
Communication phase will not be complete if there is no feedback from the recipient. It is important to know what the recipient has absorbed of the communication and that the ideas put across have been perceived for effective execution of the same. Lack of feedback hinders the purpose of effective communication, hence becomes a barrier.
Inadequate or no planning at all can make communication ineffective. Too often people start talking and writing without prior thinking planning and stating the purpose of the message “ this ends up in a poor communication situation.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study intended to show effective communication as a determinant of employees’ performance with keen references to:
- Ascertain if there exist a relationship between effective communication and employee job productivity.
- Examine if effective communication affect employee job performance.
iii. Assess the extent of employee right/responsibilities communication in an organization.
- Examine if communication play a significant role in improving employees’ satisfactions.
- .Ascertain if employees rights and responsibilities has effect on job performance.
1.4 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Is there any relationship between effective communication and employee job productivity?
- Does effective communication has any effect on employee job performance?
iii. How can employees’ right and responsibilities be effected during communication?
- Does communication play a significant role in improving employees’ satisfaction?
- How does employees right and responsibilities affect job performance.
1.5 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
HYPOTHESIS 1
HO: There is no relationship existing between effective communication and employee job productivity.
H1: There is a relationship existing between effective communication and employee job productivity.
HYPOTHESIS 2
HO: Effective communication does not determine employee job performance.
H1: Effective communication determine employee job performance.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study would enable organizations to correct the notion that once an employee is engaged or employed, he already has a working knowledge of the organization to achieve high performance. He would need to be properly oriented, trained and informed about his rights and responsibilities, work/job schedules, disciplinary procedures, etc. This would help his performance at work in both short and long run. Indeed, with this study, the relationship gap existing between the employer and employee in organizations would be covered; safety rules and standards at work would be properly maintained if specified effectively.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study examines effective communication as a determinant of employee job performance in Caleb University.
1.8 BRIEF HISTORY OF CALEB UNIVERSITY
The systematic history of Caleb University dates back to 1986 when Adebogun planted the initial seed for a nursery and primary school in the heart of Mainland Lagos. The seemingly intractable falling standard in public sector education and the demand amongst most parents for schools with high academic standards, as well as the inculcation of true Christian values served as the necessary impetus for the creation of Caleb Nursery and Primary School.
The high academic attainment within the school, coupled with the exemplary moral behaviour of the students increased demand for places in the school. Parents also began to yearn for a secondary institution that emphasizes the same objectives, ambitions, values and teaching methods. This, logically, paved the way for the establishment of Caleb International College in Magodo GRA, Lagos, in 1995.
The college served as a natural transition path for many pupils who have attended Caleb Primary School. Within a few years of establishment, the performances of the college students at the Junior and Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations (JSCE/SSCE) quickly established Caleb amongst the ranks of high flying secondary schools in the Country. The college expanded its extra-curricular programme, expanded its music band, and included overseas study tours for its students from 1999.
By 2005 much progress had been recorded with the production of the Draft Academic brief, Draft University Law and purchase of over 100 Acres of land in Imota, Lagos State. By November of the year same, the first NUC- SCOPU verification visit took place while the final NUC-SCOPU verification was held in May, 2006. To the Glory of God, on May 17, 2007. The Federal Government of Nigeria granted probation operational License for Caleb University to operate as a private University. The University started full academic program with admission of its first set of students, a total of 83 male and 58 female students on Monday, January 7, 2008.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Communication: Communication is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or a group of person.
Employee: An employee is a person who works in the service of another person under an express or implied contract of hire, under which the employer has the right to control the details of work performance.
Job Performance: The work related activities expected of an employee and how well those activities were executed.
Organization: Organization is a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals.
Right: Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory.
Responsibility: A duty or obligation to satisfactorily perform or complete a task (assignedby someone, or created by one’s own promise or circumstances) that one must fulfill, and which has a consequent penalty for failure.
REFERENCES
Dwyer, B. (2005). Creating Tomorrow’s Catholic School: A Challenge to the Imagination. Parramatta: Catholic Education Office.
Dwyer, J. (2005) Communication in Business. (5nd ed.). Frenchs Forest: Prentice-Hall.
Yammarino, F. J., & Naughton, T. J. (1988). Time spent communicating: A multiple levels of analysis approach. Human Relations, 41(9), 655-676.
Myers, M.T. and Myers, G. E. (1993). Managing by Communication :An Organizational Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Odden, C. M., & Sias, P. M. (1997). Peer communication relationships and psychological climate. Communication Quarterly, 45(3), 153-166.
Goldhaber, G.M. (1993) Organizational Communication, (6th ed.). Madison: Brown and Benchmark.
Leiter, M. P. (1988). Burnout as a function of communication patterns. Group & Organization Management, 13(1), 111-128.
McCormick, E. J. (2008). Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Prentice-Hall.
Miles, E. W., Patrick, S. L., & King Jr, W. C. (1996). Job level as a systemic variable in predicting the relationship between supervisory communication and job satisfaction.Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 69(3), 277-292.
Goris, J. R., Vaught, B. C., & Pettit, J. D. (2000). Effects of communication direction on job performance and satisfaction: A moderated regression analysis. Journal of Business Communication, 37(4), 348-368.
Klauss, R. and Bass, B. M. (1982). Interpersonal Communication in Organizations. NewYork: Academic Press.
Beyerlein, M. M., McGee, C., Klein,G. D. Nemiro,J.E., and Broedling, L. (2003). The Collaborative Work System Fieldbook: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Trombetta, J. J., & Rogers, D. P. (1988). Communication climate, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Management Communication Quarterly, 1(4), 494-514.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_University
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