Effective communication skills by organizational leaders are crucial for the achievement of organizational success. Conrad and Newberry (2011) state that these skills enable leaders to articulately express organizational goals and objectives to the workers.
For an organization to succeed, employees must know what targets they are supposed to achieve. Through good communication, these goals are expressed effectively to the employees who can then work towards realizing them. In addition to this, the skills assist organizational leaders to motivate the workers to achieve the set goals.
The high motivation levels achieved lead to increased employee commitment and hence higher productivity. Good communication is also crucial for conflict resolution in the organization. Kellerman (2007) asserts that conflicts are inevitable in an organization and they might even lead to growth. However, conflicts have to be resolved constructively in order for positive outcomes to be obtained. By employing proper communication, the leader is able to effectively act as a mediator and diffuse tensions in the workplace.
A number of significant problems might arise due to poor communication in the work place. To begin with, workers are likely to suffer from low morale. This occurs since the leader lacking in communication skills will not be able to motivate the employees. Conrad and Newberry (2011) confirm that these skills are necessary to arouse enthusiasm in employees. Ineffective communication also decreased work productivity since workers are likely to engage in the wrong activities.
This will necessitate re-work, therefore decreasing organizational performance. The image of the organization will also be hurt by increasing customer dissatisfaction. Ineffective communication will lead to poor customer service leading to a poor perception of the organization by the customer (Kellerman, 2007). To avoid these negative outcomes, an organization should ensure that its employees have good communication skills.
References
Conrad, D., & Newberry, R. (2011). Twenty-Four Business Communication Skills: Attitudes of Human Resource Managers versus Business Educators. American Communication Journal, 13(1), 4-23.
Kellerman, B. (2007). What Every Leader needs to know About Followers. Harvard Business Review, 85(12), 84-91.