Effect of organizational communication on employee motivation

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Effect of organizational communication on employee motivation
Introduction
In today’s world, globalization and technology have established a fierce competitive business environment. To survive in this highly competitive environment, managers must wisely manage all resources of their organizations. Among all the resources, the biggest challenge surrounds the human resource because unlike other resources, staff management requires careful handling of emotions and thoughts before attaining high production. As a result, employee motivation is a key responsibility for managers. One way of motivating employees is by availing information regarding the organization and their specific tasks. Failure to give sufficient details leads to communication problems, especially when managers are communicating complex issues. Therefore, for efficient communication to occur in the organization, it is believed that managers must use the correct communication channel, extensively share information, allow employees to participate in decision making, and properly apply the 7 C’s of communication during interactions.
Statement of the problem
As much as managers may want to overlook the significance of communication, such ignorance remains just a distant elusion. This is because communication in businesses is the cornerstone that determines the success or failure of a company. Globalization and technology advancement has broadened the problem of communication in organizations by making interactions more complex and varied. Regardless of the complexities, managers must effectively interact with employees because that interaction is reflected in their degree of motivation and performance. At the work place, communication problems arise when managers share insufficient information that has no specific receivers using unsuitable communication channels (Kanki, 2019). When this occurs, employees become less motivated and confused as they cannot interpret the message and understand it. In some instances, frustration originating from poor communication may be too much and cause the resignation of skilled and experienced employees.
As a managerial issue, communication problems exist in all companies that engage in various economic sectors. Its effect in the internal and external environment of a business organization goes beyond employee motivation. According to Timmins (2017), 70% of new strategies and programs in local and Multinational Corporations fail to take off because of poor communication environment established by managers. As a result, due to managers’ inability to communicate effectively, all business organizations in the world suffer huge losses. In multinational Corporations, 85% of employees who are totally and effectively informed are highly motivated and deliver more than the set target. However, in the same corporations, managers might be too busy to streamline communication processes. As a result, employees who are given limited information without proper meaning do not perform to the best of their ability because they are confused and less motivated (Worthington, 2015).
The recognition of the establishment of effective communication as a managerial responsibility gained momentum in the 1960s. However, very few research projects have investigated how managers can combine proper communication channels, extensive information sharing, participation of employee in decision formulation, and the 7 C’s of communication to establish effective interactions and motivate employees in an organization. As a result, there is a research gap in management literature and this research seeks to fill it. The importance of this research is that it does not only describe the harmful effects of poor communication from managers, but also shows how managers can motivate employees by applying the above four variables in communication processes.
Literature review
The acknowledgement of the significance of effective communication to the success of an organization can be credited to the study undertaken by Gamble & Gamble (2002), who stated that interaction is the “body, heart, and blood” of any organization. Gamble’s study emphasized on the need for managers to facilitate a two-step flow of communication; upward and down ward. This facilitated the establishment of “communication audit” that describes the process used to evaluate the accuracy of communication from managers to subordinates. In the modern world, communication audit methodologies have been used by organizations to study the efficiency of their downward communication processes.
In a perfect organizational internal environment, workers should never be afraid to raise suggestions or pose questions to the senior managers. Therefore, when establishing an effective communication environment in an organization, managers should ask whether employees are fully furnished with accurate information and whether they understand. There are numerous ways that managers can employ to motivate employees through effective communication. In this regard, Torrington and Hall (1991) recognized proper communication mediums, the 7 C’s of communication, and workers involvement in decision making as essential tools for managers to use. Proper communication channels protect the integrity of information and ensure it reaches the intended recipient. When building on Torrington and Hall’s study, Sim and Wright (2001), indicated that the 7 C’s can be used in both oral and written communication and save time as well as cost because the main information does not contain any unnecessary words.
Suitable internal communication systems lead to increased employee passion, commitment, and alignment to a company’s goals. This is because employees’ performance and attitude cannot be separated. As a result, when employees’ attitudes emotional problems are taken care of, tasks are completed quickly and productivity increases significantly (Vercueil, 2001). A major drawback with a majority of past literature is that they are not industry specific. They describe communication problems as a managerial issue in the context of the general business environment. Therefore, since this research uses data collected by a telecommunication company, it will offer results that can be used by telecommunication managers.
Conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is a set of ideas used to structure a subsequent presentation based on certain variables. It is an essential tool for reaching as it helps researchers to understand the problem or subject under scrutiny. In this research, the managerial issue under scrutiny is how a communication environment established by a manager’ enhances interactions and employee motivation. The conceptual framework below shows that the 7 C’s of communication, proper communication mediums, sharing of information, and workers participation in decision formulation can be adopted by managers as way of enhancing communication and motivating employees.
Independent variables Depended variables
Workers participation in decision undertaking

Communication medium

Sharing of communication

7 C’s of communication

Efficient communication

Employee motivation

Research Methodology
* Research design
The main aim of the research was to understand how efficient communication can motivate employees. Managers can only foster efficient communication if proper communication channels are used, extensive information sharing is undertaken, employees are involved in decision undertaking, and the 7 C’s of co...