Com12 Essay on Communication in the Workplace

This essay was written with emotion as I had only recently left my position at ABC Funding Company (not real name) when this unit began. It was important for me to write about it as a therapeutic process. It is interesting to note, this essay is based on fact. These events did occur during my time, which led to my eventual resignation. I was awarded a Distinction for this essay.

Thesis Statement

There are many forms of communication within the workplace. Some are successful, making it a positive experience for those involved. Others are unsuccessful and negative. Successful communication is beneficial to all parties involved resulting in profits for the company and satisfaction among it's workers. My essay will discuss the time I spent at ABC Funding Company as a Debt Collector and will describe and analyse two communication scenarios at that company

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Debt Collectors who worked for ABC Funding Company (a billing company for martial arts schools), were required to meet weekly targets. It was imperative that the report list of delinquents i.e., those martial arts students whose direct debits were declined, were contacted in one form or another. Each week the Debt Collectors were supplied with a report of these delinquent students, and during their working shifts, were to check every student record on that report to investigate the reason for the declined payment. Depending on how many payments a student had missed – determined what action was necessary by the Debt Collector. Action may have involved sending the student an sms, an email, a posted letter or to contact them by phone. During employment as a Debt Collector at ABC Funding Company, these procedures changed numerous times. Nothing was provided to the Debt Collectors by way of written correspondence - all procedural changes were simply verbalised and noted on pieces of paper. The company did not hold staff meetings to address these issues. Messages sent by management were many and varied, were on an ad-hoc basis and changed often, therefore the messages received by employees were met with confusion and misunderstanding.


Upon initial employment at ABC Funding Company, the Manager was busy planning an international summit, therefore employee training was conducted by a senior staff member. It was a comfortable communication experience with this senior staff member as she was very friendly. She was also thorough in her teaching methods - notes were taken and read over each day to ensure thorough understanding of topics covered. Leaders who are able to establish mutual trust, respect, warmth and rapport with members of their group are more effective (Raj, 2008, p198). To describe her forms of communication - she would use verbal and non-verbal communication which was easy to decode. She also showed how to solve problems with graphic communication, i.e. the computer screen and role-play situations (Dwyer, 2013, p5). Role-plays were beneficial as it provided new employees the opportunity to role-play a customer versus Debt Collector communication exchange and all it's possible outcomes.


Upon analysis, this senior staff member was an effective trainer and team leader who was open, approachable and supportive (Dwyer, 2013, p4). In this first scenario the new Debt Collector was able to decode the sender's message with ease. It was simple to understand everything being taught, and the senior staff member made the job sound interesting and rewarding. Her chosen channel of communication was face-to-face, therefore facial expressions and body language were obvious (Dwyer, 2013, p4) as well as tone of voice and visual cues provided via the computer. 85% of learning comes from visual stimuli (Penrose, 1993, p5); and new employees at ABC Funding Company were fortunate to have access to graphic communication while training.


This first scenario was laid-back and casual. There were no staff meetings and the company had a relaxed way of communication. There was no noise or interference during this training phase. Both the senior staff member and the Debt Collector shared the same open-plan office and the messages received were identical to the messages sent. Messages were able to be decoded without interference and the communication was unambiguous and clear (Dwyer, 2013). In this scenario the information flow was linear, or point to point because it was among peers (Episode 3: Information Flow Types, 2012). There were no cultural issues in this scenario as the senior staff member was from a similar working background to the new Debt Collector. They both shared the same work ethics. Overall, this was a successful and positive communication experience.


The second scenario was an unsuccessful and negative experience. Because the Debt Collector's role was to manage the delinquent report, her responsibility was to ensure the report had been completed each week. This was not always possible due to time constraints. The Debt Collectors were paid a certain number of hours and some weeks, when the delinquent numbers were in excess, the report did not get completed and the Manager expected the Debt Collectors to work overtime without pay.


Over a number of weeks the new Debt Collector began to feel the pressure from management to work harder and faster. Problems arose because the Debt Collector was rushing through the student delinquent report and errors were being made. This resulted in time being wasted correcting these errors. The Manager refused to acknowledge the concerns raised by the Debt Collector. Superior – subordinate communication is considered the most important factor in enhancing job satisfaction (Penrose, 1993, p8). After being ignored by the Manager, the new Debt Collector's job satisfaction waned and she felt uneasy speaking with the Manager. She decided it was futile to discuss any further concerns with her or to voice any objections – so she spoke to the senior staff member who trained her instead. The senior staff member would report these concerns to the Manager on behalf of the Debt Collector, however the messages were lacking emotion, so they fell on deaf ears. It is important to encourage open communication in meetings, so that employees feel that they are heard and that what they say matters (The Importance Of Communication In The Workplace, n.d.). Realistically, if staff meetings were held, these issues could have been raised in an open forum in such a way as to ask for advice among peers, rather than complain.


Management required Debt Collectors to action at least 25 delinquents per hour. This meant they had exactly 2.4 minutes to access a student record, look at the payment schedule, determine the date and reason their payment(s) had been declined and then make contact. Sending an sms was achievable within the 2.4 minutes, however phone calls to students took longer. Despite this problem being brought to the company's attention, the issue was never resolved, resulting in the eventual resignation of the new Debt Collector.


The model of communication in this scenario can be linked to the Lasswell, Shannon and Weaver model. This was a one-way communication with no feedback or replies permitted (Dwyer, 2013). The flow of messages were through various channels (Lasswell, 1948) using phone, email, sms and Internet chat. Writing is more demanding than speaking. It is not supported by body language or voice (Raj, 2008, p46). Employees were to obey the Manager's instructions no questions asked. It was a linear model of communication which offered no feedback (Lasswell, 1948), and the information flow was divergent because it included direction (Episode 3: Information Flow Types, 2012). Therefore the Manager's written correspondence always felt demanding, instructional, delegatory, rather than friendly and approachable.


ABC Funding Company had a pyramidal communication pattern where the Manager assumed the role of leader and generated the information to be shared among the employees (Bell & Smith, 2010, p31). Often this communication would be misinterpreted and required clarification resulting in wasted time and resources. At ABC Funding Company communication processes broke down due to poor leadership.


Reflecting on these two experiences, it is apparent both scenarios were laid-back and casual. As there were no staff meetings, ABC Funding Company had unstructured communication which posed many problems. Because the working environment was too relaxed, staff members would joke and speak over one another and often employee questions went unanswered and problems were overlooked. Workplace listening was challenging because information was exchanged casually, people spoke at once and topics changed rapidly (Guffey, 2008, p53). Communication was too flexible and open ended (Bell & Smith, 2010, p30). There was much noise and distractions (Dwyer, 2013, p8). To describe the Manager's form of communication - she would use only verbal communication sent to employees via sms, email or chat. She never used graphic communication to help employees' comprehension. As the employees rarely saw the Manager face-to-face, this verbal (written) communication was often misconstrued as it lacked emotion, facial expression and body language. The cultural issue at play in this scenario was the fact that the Manager was from a small business and laissez-faire work environment but the new Debt Collector was from a large formal government department where effective communication was a priority, regular meetings were held and minutes recorded and actioned.


Upon analysis, ABC Funding Company would have benefited from staff meetings, and better leadership by the Manager. Informal meetings at work are held to exchange information, solve problems, make decisions or set goals (Dwyer, 2009). If the Manager had been personable and not profit-focussed, she would have made friends with her team. A corporate executive has a social responsibility in their capacity as a business person. They are to act in some way that is not in the interest of the employer (McJannet L & Hattersley M E, 2008, p201). The Manager at ABC Funding Company was emotionally inept as she always came across as abrupt, condescending and officious rather than nurturing and motivating. Interpersonal ineptitude in leaders lowers everyone’s performance: it wastes time, creates acrimony, corrodes motivation and commitment, builds hostility and apathy (Goleman, 1998, p3-4). Her personality was overbearing and bossy therefore the new Debt Collector found her unapproachable and rude, making communication with her impossible.


In conclusion, this essay has analysed two separate communication scenarios at ABC Funding Company. The first communication scenario was a positive experience with an approachable, courteous and professional leader who trained the new employees and used a variety of communication forms. The second was a negative experience with the Manager of the company who preferred to communicate in ways other than face to face. In addition, this essay has evaluated the the different styles of both leaders concluding that even though the environment was laissez-faire, the two different leadership styles and the communication methods of both leaders resulted in very different experiences for the Debt Collector. Furthermore it has ascertained the necessity of staff meetings within any organisation for easy flow of communication between management and staff.

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