An Employer Can Create a Climate of Support Through Communication

Group Paper

An Employer Can Create a Climate of Support Through Communication.

"Did you hear the latest rumor?" Jeff said to Sally. "No, what's going around now?" said Sally. "Remember all the big wigs that were here last week from out of town? Well, I heard from Jack on third shift that they were here to seal the deal on buying the company. He heard that they're from some big company down south and their real big on bringing in their own people. You know what the means." "Yeah," said Sally, "but I heard from Helen in Human Relations that one of the reasons they're even thinking about merging with this other company is because we're not doing so well. If this doesn't go through, our benefits may get cut and lay-offs are pretty much guaranteed. She also said that she heard the benefits this other company has aren't as good as what we have now. So, either way it looks like we'll lose." "Sounds like you may be right," sighed Jeff, "I guess it's time to start looking for another job. Hey, maybe I'll find one where the company actually lets you know what's going on." The "grapevine" or "rumor mill" is a part of any company's communication structure. As demonstrated here, it enables employees to share information about things relative to the company where they work. However, also demonstrated here is how it contributes to the morale of the work environment. Communication is a very important element of the work environment. Though it is important for employees to be able to communicate with each other, it is more important that the employer effectively communicates with its employees. Without effective communication, an employer risks letting the rumor mill run rampant which could jeopardize its employees moral and overall performance. The effects of good and bad communication are discussed to providing us with further information regarding the importance of communication. We also discuss how a work environment can create good and bad morale.

First we will be discussing good communication and what good communication skills are. Also, we need to know how they can be used effectively. Good communication is defined as a process of creating, sending, receiving, and interrupting signals between people. Communication is a process that consists of two or more people and through this process you have a sender and a receiver.

For communication to be effective everyone in this process must try

to be open minded, good listeners, honest, respectable to the other party or persons, and give appropriate criticism. When these facts are displayed there will almost always be good communication and the group will be a success.

Another key to good communication skills is how well we deliver our message to another person, so that the message is clearly stated and understood. This may mean that we need to improve our speaking skills. As we all know everyone has different speaking abilities so one should always check for understanding from all group members. One person left in the dark can create holes in the communication process.

Last but not least, one thing that leads to being an effective communicator is to be a people oriented listener. This person is better known as a people person, a non-judgmental person and someone you may talk to when you want someone to listen to you. I believe that there should be one of these people in every group to help manage tension that may arise.

Bad communication takes place when the exchange of information does not process the same from one person to another. Communication can be verbal or non verbal. In order to effectively communicate with another person, there must be a medium in which to exchange the information. Without mediums one hand would not know what the other hand is doing and communication can become ineffective and result in conflicts. Verbal communication can be in the form of face-to-face discussions, and telephone conversations. Nonverbal communication can be in the form of e-mail, letters and memos, notes, reports or flyers. Without effective communication, messages sent through mediums can create bad communication. Bad communication can occur is several ways, selective listening, and barriers, obscured or distorted language, or avoidance. One way in which bad communication can occur is when a person fails to listen effectively. Selective listening can be a form of ineffective listening. Another form of bad communication is when there are barriers to communication such as when language is obscured or distorted meaning that the sender and receiver do not understand each other. Sometimes, language barriers are due to cultural or ethnic differences. One of the results of bad communication can be in the form of "rumors" or "grapevines". Bad communication can also come in the form of avoidance such as running from conflict. For example, an employer does not want to communicate with employees about major changes that will take place in an organization, this is known as avoidance. Avoidance is a form of bad communication because it avoids the communication mediums. When avoidance takes place "grapevines and rumor mills" begin to take off. Employees may start guessing at the information before they know what is really taking place.

In a business environment high morale with employees is a key essential to success. Morale is defined by Webster Dictionary as, the state of the spirits of a person or group as exhibited by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and willingness to perform assigned tasks. When morale is brought down, work progress is minimized and production is slower than expected. But how is morale brought down? Morale can be brought down in many ways, but there are two that are most important. The first is when the employer doesn't treat the employee as an equal or a part of the "team". The next is when changes arise and the employees "get