Communication in Management: Main Aspects

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Lack of leadership ethics: Faulu Kenya Deposit taking Micro- finance
Discussion
Strategies
Concussion and Recommendations
References

Introduction

In any course work, it is essential that students concerned be assessed to ascertain their general understanding of concepts they learned in a particular field of study. Many a scholar has suggested ways of doing this. The most common assessment method that is used globally is classroom assessment. It is documented by that assessment is a powerful tool to motivate the unmotivated students by restoring their desire to learn thus encouraging students to keep learning. The end result is increased achievement to the student (Stiggins et al. 2004).

Therefore assessment is done in order to gather evidence of student learning. Workshops have been an option but research shows that they are not enough, so is reading of journals and books. Studying some course for purposes of achieving or attaining a certificate or a degree does not end after the student leaves the gates a learning institution. On the contrary, involved students are ushered out to the field, where most of them end up employed. During employment, high expectations are required of these students pertaining to application of theoretical skills learned in their courses to practice.

One such field of application is when there are challenges arising at place of work. A question that faces them (new employees) is; are they able to appreciate these challenges, face them and come up with solutions appropriate to them? To this extend, leadership is a skill that comes in handy. Leadership in itself is not enough. However, when faced with a problem that needs such a skill as leadership, can one capably communicate his/her leadership skill to the concerned people to induce change? If so, what are the media that are supposed to be used? It is also proper that we examine ethics in place of work during problem solving. This ushers us to the case study below.

Lack of leadership ethics: Faulu Kenya Deposit taking Micro- finance

Faulu Kenya ltd is a deposit taking microfinance that has been on market for over 19 years. This company was founded on a Christian foundation that giving middle class people small loans could improve their standards of living. It has four core values that it cherishes. The following are: lordship of Jesus, integrity, learning, honesty. The company’s Vision is, giving Kenyans a hope and future. Currently, I am not employed by the company, so the ethics challenges that face the leadership of the company shall be presented limited to the two year experience that I gathered while in the premises of the company. In the recent past, the company has experienced a huge staff turnover but it has been reluctant to address the issues leading to these turnovers. I had a privilege to work under two chief executive officers in the company.

One was a lady, but the current one is a man. In the leadership the current CEO, turnover has hit its peak. As I mentioned earlier the organization lends small business loans to adult Kenyans. Audit reports are from individual branches are prepared yearly and presented to board for some decisions to be made. The current CEO is nicknamed, “roller coaster”. As the name suggests he makes decisions against staff with respect to sacking without giving staff a communicational chance so that they express their actions.

During employment, when one is offered permanent a contract is signed, stipulating the terms of employment and termination for the two parties involved. In a case which I felled ethics were side stepped, audit was done at my branch and some findings were unearthed. Staff was found to own small retail businesses which were run by some other people beside staff themselves. This has an implication that, staffs were not involved directly in the daily running of these small businesses. Speaking of staff also includes the branch manager then. During job induction, I remember we were told that audit was meant to improve the efficiency and productivity of employees. However, it later came to that it was meant to give staff summary dismissal. As a result, every time audit was conducted in a branch, a feeling that one of our staff mates getting sacked ruled the atmosphere around the branch. At the end of every exercise, indeed at least a staff was dismissed.

There was no staff who denied the fact that he had a business. This did not however change the cause opinion formed by the auditors despite the fact that they knew there was no conflict of interest. In a nutshell, we were called to face a disciplinary committee. It was later to be known that the meeting with the committee was a mere formality prior to our sacking. It took them eighteen days to deliver dismissal letters to us. During the waiting period, we were attending work as usual. However other staff was sourced from other branches of the company across the country and brought to our branch. Every day the regional manager told us with assurance that we would be transferred to other branches. Little did we know that she was holding our dismissal letters? During that waiting period, we were threatened with dire consequences if we dared to snap duty or showed any signs of failure to handover our work portfolio to the incoming staff.

The letters were delivering to us by the area regional manager to us without any word. It was just a call to her office, getting letter in a deadly silence and followed by a command to return company property and clear from the branch premises. It was stipulated in the contract that either party is supposed to pay another a two-month salary if termination on contract occurs. On the contrary, during that period of time that we were waiting for our fate to be decided, the human resource department of the company amended the clause, reducing the payment period to only one month, and also amending another clause regarding dismissal so that it read “summary dismissal”. For summary dismissal we were told that we were not entitled to either our retirement benefits or even the one month salary in lieu of the contract. We were not also paid for the eighteen days that we worked for that month. So everything just ended with a dead silence. It has been three months since dismissal. This was just an example among many.

Ethics are also not practiced by the leadership of the organization since; the company management relies so much on threats of sacking to instill what it calls “a wakeup call” particularly from the credit department of the organization. Words like you either win or we win are common; winning in their context means sacking staff.

Discussion

Communication is like a nerve center of a company and it presents benefits like: increased productivity, improved quality of products and services that a company in question can offer, gives staff an opportunity to make suggestions as well as realizing a higher level of creativity from the employees, leads to higher job satisfaction for the employees in turn reducing turnover in an organization (Hargie et al., 1999). The benefit list is endless. Earlier researchers discovered ways in which communication flows in an organization, pegging so much importance on stakeholders in a given organization. Effectiveness of communication has been a tool of measuring business ethics in an organization. Business ethics here may mean doing what is accepted at work. Business ethics are not only limited to staff, by their application also flows upwards to the top management. In fact ultimate caution has to be taken by the top management, since lack of practicing what they give as a code professional code of ethics in business may not be practiced by the lesser staff (Shaw, 2005). The way we communication of this codes of ethics in a business setting matters a lot. In the example of the case study presented above, Faulu as an organization seems to have isolated itself from its staff communication wise. A review of communication technologies shows that there has been a great revolution since 1970s through mid 1990s (Johnson, 2005).

Communication is one way tackling management ethics challenges. Another way to look at an effective company is to give it a corporate citizenship view. In the light of the case study, Faulu as a company has a mission to give the citizens of Kenya a hope and a future. The company should remember Kenyans include staff that works for it. The management should realize that staffs have a right to be treated with dignity.

They should be given an update of what happens in the company that affects them. Organizations as corporate citizens have got several functions that they are characterize with, including an economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic functions. It is clear that success must be the core idea so that profitability defines the existence of organizations like Faulu Kenya. However profitability should not erode the ethics of its business setting so that the welfare of staff is neglected. Staff in any one given organization is considered to the central makers of business. The work of the management is usually decision-making. Having staff that can be retained due job satisfaction ensures. Studies show that obedience of the law is a legal responsibility of organizations to the society in which these organizations reside. These laws in organizations come in form of ethics which are designed to protect its stake holders such as employees.

With reference to the case of Faulu Kenya and its staff, the organization viewed the law as a barrier to what it could achieve. As given in the ethics and leadership literature, such organizations like Faulu Kenya gives a personal interest a surpassing importance over the law with regard to its staff to achieve its criminal goals. A contract is a legal document which is supposed to protect and unite the parties involved; therefore, it was not the duty of the organization to intentionally break the terms in favor of itself. This is an exploitative way of opportunity and people to achieve organizational goals (McIntosh, 2001).

What happened in the organization can also be looked at in the perspective of morality and etiquettes. In the light of business ethics, treating people with respect and dignity uplifts their personality. Threats should not be an immediate option for one to use against the other in the struggle of achieving productivity. Dignified treatment of people has the advantages of increased productivity and efficiency from staff. These advantages come as a result of staff getting job satisfaction at their place of work. Corporate citizens are building on principles such as effective communication with their stakeholders in society. Malcolm says that this has benefit of building a social capital.

Strategies

The following strategies shall help overcome the management challenge facing Faulu Kenya.

Improve communication with staff at all levels I the organization
Introduce arbitrators in the matters involving staff dismissal
- The organization should have an open mind concerning its dealings with staff so that in the event of a conflict either party remains informed and updated of the goings during that conflict period.
- The company policy should be read and even distributed to staff so that staff is always updated of what to do and what not to do in the course of its work.
- A counseling department should be introduced targeting outgoing staff’s welfare
- A moral code of ethics at work should established as a subordinate department in the company to used a tool of administering punishment, if any, for those found breaking the code.

Concussion and Recommendations

Good course work assessment is a good tool that can be used by assessors to gauge the learning progress of students. This is said so since the work done to bring out the best in a student does not end in classroom set up. Students are taught specific subjects in theory but with an expectation that they shall apply them at some time in their future as employees.

In any business setting or profession, ethics have to practice in order to promote the dignity of the involved parties. Businesses should not only count themselves at profit level but also the impact that it creates to the society at large. Ethics have to follow strictly by both the management and staff at large in a company or organization. Our actions everywhere must be guided by a good moral standard, such that their adequacy depends on the reasons that support them. In the case of corporate citizens, success must be coupled with law that is obeyed so that their legal responsibilities are fulfilled and community in which they exist. These legal responsibilities must encompass laws that fully protect a society of stakeholders in an organization, such as employees, consumers, owners and the community.

From the case study, it can be concluded that effective leaders must also be leaders in the ethical grounds. There should not be any implications of parties involved in a contact suggesting exploitation of the other either indirectly or directly, if any such incidence is realized, appropriate action should taken against anybody/party breaching the terms in the agreement. As realized from the case study, arbitration should be included as a remedy in a conflict between employers and employees without either taking an upper hand.

References

Hargie O, et al., (1999). Communication in Management. Hampshire: Gower publishing Ltd.

Hughes W & Lavery J. (2004). Critical thinking: an introduction to basic skills. Toronto: Broadview press Ltd.

Johnson G.E. (2005). Meeting ethical challenges of leadership: casting light or shadow? California: Sage Publications Ltd.

McIntosh M. (2001). Perspectives on corporate citizenship. Sheffield: Greenfiel Publishing Ltd.

Shaw H.W. (2005). Business ethics: a text book with cases. Boston: Wordsworth.

Stiggins R.J et al. (2004). Classroom assessment for student learning. Oregon: assessment training institute Inc.

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