Communication is Essential in the Workplace

Communication is Essential in the Workplace

BBA 2026: Organizational Communication

Workplace communication is vital in how a business runs and operates. The business itself, the structure, has no workload, doesn’t talk to people, put out products, or service customers, the employees and leadership inside do. Communication between the employees and how they get along, as well as leadership communication will help develop a team to achieve better results. There are many techniques that leadership will use to communicate between employees and better their company. Out of all the techniques that were discussed in the article on, “Communication provides foundation for being a best place to work,” written by a Mrs. Kathleen Skidmore-Williams in 2013, the two that stood out to me were, Tailored Training Puts Work into Context and Heightening Empowerment. With these two techniques employees trust will improve. This paper will talk about how trust can build a company and relations within the workplace, how employee surveys can help leadership know the issues at hand that need to be corrected and giving praise and providing performance reviews. All of which can be beneficial, no matter where you find yourself.

Building trust between employees and leadership is a vital how a business is operated. According to Skidmore-Williams (2013), she stated in her article that the Army Auditor General, Randal L. Exley stated, “An informed and happy workforce is a productive one,” he says, “and happiness depends, to a large degree, on trust, which is built by effective and open communication.” Being a transparent leader means that no one is left out of information. That the leadership in the workplace could openly discuss information about themselves, so that employees with know who they are as a person, not just a boss. With the heightening empowering technique, leaders put more trust in their employees to have larger responsibilities. The article states, “Generally speaking, we’re given enough authority to talk to people, gather data, analyze it, and make decisions (or at least recommendations) to complete our work,” (Skidmore-Williams, 2013). When people feel they can make decisions for the company, they feel a sense of pride and a valid part of the team. Almost as if everyone is equal in the workforce. Now, with the tailored training, the article stated a survey was done to assess how communication has affected the workplace. According to Skidmore-Williams (2013), The outcome was that leaders, over six months, managers held 10 two-day sessions of the workshop at various field office locations. Each session was packed with valuable content and practical exercises. Some leaders must take training in order to understand how to communicate, while others don’t. Both give the power to the employees to cause change, whether it is through a survey to assess issues with communication, tailored training, or allowing them to speak on behalf of the company with trust that they will do what’s right, heightened empowerment.

Surveys within the workforce can be a great way for leadership to understand the issues, suggestions, or improvements that can be made within an organization. With the tailored training concept, leaders acted after a survey was conducted and implemented positive communication guidelines for senior leadership to take back to the workforce. The employees had a voice on what they wanted. Training is always a good thing, but just because you learn a way to communicate, doesn’t mean you will use it. With heightened empowerment, the leaders are more open. They hold lunch meetings for communication with everyone. No hidden surveys or agendas on how to get things done. The article states that an employee said, “My management allows me to voice my opinions openly and freely-they always listen, and they make you feel like what you’re saying matters. They value your input and say thanks. They treat me more as a peer than an employee-it’s about accomplishing the mission as a team.” (Skidmore-Williams, 2013). This is how these two techniques are different in aspects of learning what needs to be worked on and improved within a workplace. One technique of communication holds a survey and gathers statistics, while the other technique has leadership listening to the employees and responding to them in person in a calm and accepting way. The similarity between the two, is that either way, leadership gets results of the issues and provides a better mean to communicate and build trust within an organization and its employees.

Providing performance reviews is a fantastic way of building trust within a workplace. By leadership evaluating each employee, he learns their strengths and weaknesses. With me, I have two Soldier’s, who are completely different. Each respond to instruction differently, and I feel it is important to understand this for them to trust me and not treat them both the same. By performance reviews, leaders can learn more about an individual and how they think, work and what conflicts they can possibly have. Knowing this knowledge helps leaders stop conflict and allow them to reward a good evaluation for hard work. When people feel like they are recognized for good dead, they want to work harder to keep the positivity going. The article states, “Communication has been added to performance standards for supervisors, and it’s become a key criterion for agency awards.” (Skidmore-Williams, 2013). By performance evaluations, employees can gain reward publicly and it lets them know that their leadership cares about their work performance. Bu doing this, trust and loyalty is developed.

Building trust between employees and leadership within a workplace is instrumental for success. You have may kinds of leadership, from the one who openly communicates with meetings and group discussions, while others hold surveys and get statistics on what can be improved without communicating with employees. Both are beneficial. For one, employees may feel freer to speak about issues without leadership staring at them and the employee may not want to be in trouble and not say anything. For the other, leaders want that open communication and direct responses, while providing reassurance that it will be okay and say, “Thank you,” to the employee when they get done. Both techniques that have been talked about have been beneficial in work environments. There is no right or wrong way to lead, its all about trust within the employees and management that will make a business bloom and taken to the next level.

Reference Page

Skidmore-Williams, K. (2013). Communication provides foundation for being a best place to work. Public Manager, 42(2), 52-56. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1406222044?accountid=33337