Communication Factor in Employee Motivation - Essay Example

Communication Factor in Employee Motivation Communication Communication is described by Princeton as "The activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information" and "A connection allowing access between persons or places". So in reality communication is dependent on two or more people who constantly communicate to each other. [2] The Communication Process The process of communication starts with an idea forming into the mind of the sender. The information exists in the mind of the sender and can be in the form of a concept, idea, information, or feeling. The next process is to encode that message into symbols or words that the receiver is expected to understand. This message is then sent through a channel. Once this message is received, the receiver translates the original message from the words and symbols into a concept or information that he or she can understand. Throughout the transmitting of the message, two processes are received by the receiver: content and context. Content is the actual words or symbols of the message which is known as language. This is the spoken and written words combined into phrases that make grammatical and semantic sense. We all use and interpret the meanings of words differently, so even simple messages can be misunderstood. And many words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more. Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as Paralanguage. It includes the tone of voice, the look in the sender's eye's, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotions (anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that can be detected. Although paralanguage or context often causes messages to be misunderstood as we believe what we see more than what we hear; they are powerful communicators that help us to understand each other. Indeed, we often trust the accuracy of nonverbal behaviors more than verbal behaviors. [4] A message is not communicated unless it is understood and decoded by the receiver. By the two-way communication or feedback the sender knows that it has been properly received. This feedback tells the sender that the receiver understood the message, its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication is an exchange, not just a give, as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange. [4] How Effective Leaders Communicate Communication is now understood as the exchange of information which is understood. Following this concept, communication is easy. However people don't seem to understand what and do effective leaders communicate to make them effective. Effective leaders stress the importance of 'active listening'. The key to effective leadership communication is to be able to draw good ideas out of others. To lead effectively, therefore, you need to be good at active listening. This means asking questions about what other people think and probing them on the pros and cons of their proposals. Asking people for their opinions is the best way of showing that you value them, another essential leadership trait, if you want to engage and retain key talent. [9] Another characteristic that effective leaders possess is the vision of the future that they provide to the members of the organization. Although creating an uplifting and inspiring vision is difficult enough, it is not where most would be leaders fail. They fail in communicating the vision in a way that continues to enlist the dedicated, emotional commitment of the people throughout the ranks. [10] To communicate this vision, communication whether it is a private direct communication or with a few is absolutely vital to ensure that the intended message is getting through. There is no other way for a leader to genuinely understand how the message is being received, including whether people actually do believe it. Employees respect this characteristic as the leader seems interested in the other person. [10] The one thing a leader can always have in common with another person is his or her best interest. A message should be communicated in such a way as to demonstrate that the person wants what is best for the other person thus drawing the person to oneself. Leaders have people power because they recognize and appreciate the worth of others. When communication is done from the other person's perspective, one quickly develops rapport. Once the trust of the listener is earned, the listener's mind opens up to consider the message being sent. It is the sender's job to find a way to impact him or her with what is wanted to be understood, and that requires making an emotional connection. [8] Power Of Communication to Influence and Motivate People Communication is a very important part of our lives a person may realize the importance of a particular project or idea, but how would that person communicate effectively to others so that it is not only understood but embraced There are many verbal and nonverbal clues that persuasive people utilize to influence and motivate others. [5] Communication in essence creates relationships and develops interpersonal bonding. It contains the power to truly understand a person and the message that is being delivered. Sometimes communication is so strong that a person feels compelled to act on the message delivered to him/her. Communication done to impress someone changes what he or she thinks about you while influencing someone changes what they do because of you. Leaders care little about the impressions they make. Instead, they strive to influence others to take positive action. Leaders communicate intentionally. That means they know what they want every conversation, email, phone call or speech to accomplish. Then they design what and how they communicate to achieve it. Good communication is about quality, not quantity. When leaders communicate, they tell people what they need to hear rather than tell people what they want to hear. This creates a sense of goodwill about leaders and the people start to trust them. This trust turns into a more power feeling of trust when others expect the leader who can do no wrong. The charismatic personality and the transformational leadership qualities of the leader act as role model for the employees. It influences the workers to act in a certain way and follow the path of the leader. The workers act out of their free will to work on the guidelines set by the leader. But for this to happen, a leader must be heard and understood, he or she must break preoccupation and grab attention (in other words, entertain). That means a leader captures and holds the attention of those being addressed. As it is said "You can't bore people into positive action", the leaders must be entertaining to influence the workers into following the leader's ideology. People generally aren't that interested in what you've done. They are much more interested in what you've learned and ultimately most interested in what they can learn from your experience. So therefore more emphasis should be laid on what the employees can learn from the leader. [5] [8] "Influencing is our ability to present our ideas with greater clarity, logic and confidence. It also means understanding other people's viewpoints and adding value to their perspectives" writes Dinesh K Vohra. [3] The more we need collaboration, approval, agreement and empathy, the more important inter-personal influencing skills become. It may also be called the power of persuasion. Influencing is not like trying to sell something. It is an idea told in such a fashion that others believe and accept it. It is the ability to present ones viewpoint and ideas with greater clarity, logic and confidence. On occasions an idea, services, products are rejected because negative feelings and attitudes are attached to them. Through influencing tactics these negative feelings can be erased. Influencing also means understanding people and their viewpoints and adding value to their perspectives. [3] Communication is also an important part of motivating the employees. By regularly communicating with the employees, the leader can build rapport and gain a favorable impression in the minds of the workers. The empathy and care the leader has for his members is an important part in motivating them. Feedback is an excellent factor for adjusting a message and assuring understanding. To increase the odds of future success, a concept known as feed-forward can be used, which provides people with the information they need to be successful before they undertake something. Feedback provides the assessment of what has been done. Feed-forward clarifies the prospects of what needs to be accomplished. Feedback focuses on past performance. Feed-forward focuses on future performance and it talks specifically about what a thriving performance will be like and enrich the description to enrich the outcome. Feedback is remedial while Feed-forward is intended to be preventative. Rather than waiting until later to determine if a person has communicated clearly, information is provided to prevent possible problems. [8] Emotional Intelligence And Impact In Communication Emotional Intelligence is described as "The awareness of and ability to manage one's emotions in a healthy and productive manner" in the All Psych Dictionary. [6] Emotions that boil on the verge of awareness can have a healthy impact on how people perceive and react, even though they have no idea they are at work. Emotional awareness is the building block of the next fundamental of emotional intelligence. By being aware of the emotional state of oneself and of others, a person can cope better with situations and will be able to understand them better. It has been said that true self-awareness means being aware of both our mood, and about our thoughts about the mood. A self-aware person is able to mindfully examine the reasons behind the mood in an emotionally clear way. [1] Emotional intelligence has a incredible impact on communication. While intellectual ability is important, without a high level of emotional intelligence people still do not fare well in life.A person in an emotionally bad situation may not be able to explain the point that person wants to make. The communication may not be as clear as the receiver wants it to be and the message may get distorted. A person is a happy mood may make wrong decisions and communicate the wrong idea to the staff members for the reasons why the decision was taken. [1] Being aware of these fallacies attached with an unstable emotional state, a person can review the goals and decisions made and appraise oneself. One can improve personal performance by staying one step ahead of the game more often. The team performance and the communication can improve as the team members will be better able to understand each other. The team will start to take ownership and perform better as a team. As a result of better understanding the number of conflicts will be reduced due to misinterpretation. One will start to notice impending conflict even before it happens, so that it can be eliminated even before it starts. [7] A person will fell empowered and will have more respect as the staff will respect the new approach to them and they'll be more receptive to mentoring, so that you can delegate more. Since delegation is an important part of communication, huge breakthroughs in performance can be brought. [7] Having an insight into emotional intelligence will enable a person to also know which staff members are more suitable to different roles so that behaviors and personalities can be better matched with performance. Communicating these fine points will also increase the efficiency of the company as a whole. For the employees this might even mean rewards, a raise or even promotions. [7] How Effective Communication Can Impact Satisfaction and Performance A person is said to be satisfied if most of the needs of that person are satisfied. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the basic needs should be satisfied first and then other needs take priority. The perception that taking a certain action will help satisfy those needs makes a person perform better. If these needs are fulfilled for all the employees, then the organization will be high on performance and be an effective team in the industry. Communication helps the employees reach this satisfaction point. By allowing the needs of the team members to coincide with the needs of the organization, a leader can kill two birds with one arrow. Nearly everyone is influenced by the needs for job security, promotion, raises, and approval of their peers and/or leaders. They are also influenced by internal forces such as values morals, and ethics. Likewise, the organization needs good people in a wide variety of jobs. By ensuring that the team is trained, encouraged, and has opportunities to advance, the leader can build goodwill and conduct business with the same values, moral, and ethic principles that are seek in others. [11] By rewarding good behavior, satisfaction level of the employees can rise. A saying a simple "good work" by leader can increase the morale of the employees. This chit chat kind of communication is most important in keeping the workforce motivated. As said before, the interest shown by the leader in the employees is one of the most encouraging factors in motivation. A certificate, letter, or a thank you may seem small and insignificant, they can be powerful motivators. The reward should be specific and prompt. [11] By bucking up the employees regularly, the morale of the employees, the mental, emotional, and spiritual state of a person can also change. A belief that the goal can be achieved will raise the company in increasing its performance. Almost everything a leader communicates will have an impact on the organization's performance. A leader's actions and decisions might affect it the performance too. [11] By allowing the whole team to be a part of the planning and problem solving process, the leader can help with their development. This is one of the needs of the employees that they require - the feeling that they are included in the team and their view points are noticed. It motivates them as they are a part of the decision making process becoming the owners of it, thus it gives them a personal interest in seeing the plan succeed. Also, communication is clearer as everyone has a better understanding of what role they must play as part of the team creating an open trusting communication bond. [11] Keeping the employees informed and keeping the communication channel open allows a person to have a sense of control over their lives. By motivating employees in this way is a step forward in satisfying the needs and increasing their performance. Counseling people who behave in a way that is counter to the company's goals and guiding them to the correct path is a positive approach to better performance. People must be told when they are not performing to an acceptable standard and feedback should be maintained at all times. Feedback taps basic human needs-to improve, to compete, to be accurate; people want to be competent. Feedback can be reinforcing; if given properly, feedback is almost always appreciated and motivates people to improve. But for many people, daily work is like bowling with a curtain placed between them and the pins; they receive little information. [11] Regular communication in the forms of performance appraisals must be kept. The appraisal should be a joint effort. No one knows the job better than the person performing it. By turning the appraisal into a real discussion, rather than a criticism, the leader may learn some insightful information that could help boost his or her performance in the future. [11] Conclusion Communication is a part of everyone's life and the comprehension of its importance is useful in accomplishing tasks whether they be to make people perform better, to motivate them or just to know them better. Good communication forms the basis of an effective leader who aims to sell ideas rather than just tell them, influence others rather than impress, try to be understood rather than be heard, hear what others say rather than just listen and inspire rather than just inform. References 1. Coach Charrise (June 8th, 2007), "Emotional Intelligence", Emergence, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 2. "Communication" [Internet], Princeton, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 3. Dinesh K Vohra, "The power of influencing people" Success is Just 6 Steps Away, Jaico Books, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 4. Donald Clark (May 11, 1997), "Communication & Leadership" [Internet], Nwlink, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 5. Dr. Rick Brinkman, "THE ART OF INFLUENCING - How to Be a Compelling & Persuasive Conscious Communicator", Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 6. "Emotional Intelligence", All Psych Dictionary, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 7. Glenn Harrison (2005), "Improving your Leadership Communication and Motivational Skills with Emotional Intelligence", Motivational Training, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 8. Mark H. Sanborn (March 20, 2007), "How Leaders Communicate", Available at < ocha.unog.ch/.../1/cluster%20approach%20page/training/CSLT%20March%2007/Day%201/How-Leaders-Communicate.pdf>, Accessed on July 15, 2007 9. Mitch McCrimmon (Jul 5, 2007), "How Effective Leaders Communicate - The importance of active listening", Suite101, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 10. STEVE COATS (1994), "Communicate As A Leader: Getting Everyone Enlisted In The Vision", International Leadership Associates, ilead, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 11. "The Importance of Effective Communication", CBA, Available at , Accessed on July 15, 2007 Read More