CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
All human communications are form of interaction. In this business world, absolutely nothing can be accomplished without efficiently communicating with employers, employees, customers, and suppliers. If you take a look at one of the most successful business people around the world, you will see people that have mastered the art of communication.
Business around the world today is really challenging. To remain successful in the very challenging and competitive worldwide market economy all elements at production (i.e., men, machine and materials), ought to be carefully managed. Amongst the factors of production, human resource makes up the biggest challenge due to the fact that unlike inputs, employee management needs skillful handling of ideas, feelings and emotions to secure highest productivity. Effective organizational communication plays an essential role in this challenge.
Communication has essential effect amongst work groups because organizational communication is a channel to flow information, resources, as well as policies. "Organizational communication can be generally defined as communication with one another in the context of an organization (Eisenberg & Good all, 1997; Shockley-Zalabak, 2006). This kind of communication, consequently, includes activities of sending and getting message with different layers of authority, using different message systems, and talking about various topics of interest to the group we belong to or the firm we work for.
It is true that many leaders do not yet know what communication is and how it plays a role in corporate success. (Nnamseh, 2009). Since it has an effect on both organisations and worker experience, effective management communication has been a subject of discussion in the literature. Communication is a "core duty of every manager (Greenberg, 2010, p. 22) managers invest 80% of their daily work interacting with others to guarantee organizational success.
Organizational communication takes place upward, downward, and horizontally. Top management communicates downward (the highest possible position within the organization) with formal channels, such as policy documents, guidelines, regulations, and so on to people or groups lower down the hierarchy. An appropriate communication design is crucial to the effective behavior of an organization. In organizations use open interaction between leaders and members to enhance engagement (Hsiung, 2012). Good business communication allows company units to enhance organizational governance, enhance worker engagement, enhance profitability, and, as a result, improve the overall performance of the organization. Consequently, some studies take a look at effective communication in the work environment and its impact on the labor force, as job satisfaction and lack of participation can impact employees' intention to retire. This was revealed to be required (Aburge, 2011; Fragouli & Ibidapo, 2015; Hsiung, 2012; Sanchez, 2006). A great communication strategy is important for a company. Decision-makers and all staff are connected via communication.
Basic abilities in business communication are obtained or designed by observing other competent people and, as a result, modelling behavior based on the observations of other professionals. Efficient communication helps develop team effort within an organization and enhance worker productivity. It likewise helps in reducing duplicate turnover in your organization.
As a result of poor business communications within an organization, it influences the general trust of employees in both worker productivity and business unit efficiency. Studies have revealed that communication enhances employee efficiency (Goris, 2007) and poor communication reduces the involvement of workers in the organization. One researcher recommends that gossip serves to strengthen relationships between employees (Sostek 2006 by Tubbs and Moss 2008). Particularly, it promotes efficiency and helps organizations to know how well other groups within them are doing (Sostek 2006). Organizational objectives and goals in some cases fail when communication is ineffective. Lack of effective communication is just one of the primary factors that can lead to confusion and poor planning in lots of organizations.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Many organisational conflicts originate from failure in communication. Thus, it is crucial to state that in communication, emotions, environment, mental and technical attributes of the medium is important to improve the organizational efficiency. In the opinion of Okoye (2004), psychologically transmission surpasses reception of information but understanding and feedback. Many organizational conflicts have been traced to breakage in communication as corroborated by (Lee, 2003; Scott, 2004). According to Chudi -Oji (2013), despite the laudable importance of efficient communication in enhancing organizational performances, it is regrettable that some faculties pay lip service to the maintenance of efficient communication systems. Change is a steady and continuous process, providing room for inputs and adjustments. The new innovations, e-classroom, ICT understanding and evaluation techniques are good by itself however the medium and level of communication is problematic.
Furthermore, the continuous delay in accessing information by employee appears to restrict the professional performance, of health officers which might bring about negligence of duty. As a result, performance of staff members in relation with their roles and duties appears to question their communication techniques in regards to performance. The health officers Exposure to the innovations in the hospitals in terms of communication channels have witnessed shortcoming which if not adequately dealt with might bring about poor efficiency of the hospital in the stream of affairs among other hospitals in the nation.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of effective communication and feedback on the performance of health records officers by using Lagos State University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) as a case study. However, the specific objectives include:
i) To understand the role of feedback in relation to effective communication within an organisation.
ii) To explore the challenges to effective communication within the organization.
iii) To find out the effect of effective communication on employee performance in LUTH.
1.4 Research Questions
The research questions included:
i) What is the role of feedback in relation to effective communication within an organization?
ii) What are the challenges to effective communication within the organization?
iii) What is the effect of effective communication on employee performance in LUTH?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The research hypotheses for this study included:
i) There is a significant correlation between communication and feedback and organizational performance of health officers at LUTH
ii) Effective communication does not have any effect on employee performance in LUTH.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The primary goal of communication is to develop management in pursuit of excellent. Moreover, the outcome of this study could be employed both in health sector, which will enable them to device a good communication system that will foster their relationship with patients.
Effective communication will also be of great importance to business organization by enabling them to determine whether their sales performances are up to expected target. It will also be of advantage to academics, as it will serve as foundation toward greater in-depth and critical evaluation of effective communication in an organization.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study focused on the impact of effective communication and feedback on the performance of health records officers by using Lagos State University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) as a case study. This study also covered the concept of effective communication and its elements, feedbacks as well as organisational performance.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
This study could have included other aspects of communication but there was limited time available on the part of the researcher to carry out an extensive investigation and high cost of acquiring needed materials. Another constraint which served as limiting factor was the unwillingness of the health officers at the Lagos State University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to release their vital information without the approval of the management.
1.9 Definition of Terms
The researcher compiled some key terms used in this study which may be distinct from their conventional meaning.
Communication: the process by which ideas, feeling and information is expressed from one person to persons or between person to persons.
Effective: adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.
Efficient: performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.
Feedback: information about reactions to a person's performance which is used as a basis for improvement.
Management: it is an act and science of getting things done through others.
Performance: Armstrong (2001) sees performance as the record of outcomes achieved.
