LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study

Leadership and communication are inseparable twins that one cannot do without the other. Have you seen any leader that cannot communicate what he wants his followers to do? Such is not qualified to command compliance. Business depends on communication. People must communicate to plan products and services, hire, train and motivate employee, coordinate manufacturing and delivery, persuade customers to buy and bill them for the sale. Information and services are created and delivered by communication. In every organization, communication is the way people get their points across and get work done.

Communication is regarded as a crucial leadership skill. In every scholarly work on leadership, we read that a leader should be a good communicator, which he/she has to have an ability to articulate his/her vision to his/her followers, and so on. This is to say we are all leaders in our own right. The advantages of communication skills have become acutely important as it fosters harmonious working relationship between management and employees, increases production of goods and services as well as lead to prompt delivery of the goods and services.

Communication is the process of exchange of information, message, ideas, attitudes, feelings and reactions. The exchange here suggests that two or more people must be involved in the channel of communication. The communication may be between employee and his employer or between employee and co-employee. It could be verbal or nonverbal; the verbal can be oral or written while the nonverbal include gestures, eyes contact, dressing, colour, kissing, etc. The important point to note here is that parties decode the meaning.

Postulating the need for effective leadership communication for effective employee productivity, Nichols (2020) asserted that “We knew intuitively that when you ask people to take on significant change, their emotions will ebb and flow. So the way we talk to them to reflect their human nature and change the journey”. This implies that the way and manner we talk to a person has the potency of making us win or lose the person’s interest in situation.

Hence, we can say, Leadership communication refers to the effective application of communication skills an employee in a leadership position can utilize to achieve an Organisation’s goal. It can be seen as the development and method of effective delivery of messages that inform, inspire, engage, and unite employees towards achieving a common purpose or goal.

Moreover, Leadership communication may also be seen a methods of communicating and socializing a leader uses to effectively communicate with his employees and his company’s executives. This could include the methods by which they give or receive instructions, report progress, congratulate the employee that has done exceptionally well, mediate conflict and administer appropriate punishment.

Leadership communication varies widely in its application and the methods by which an individual can excel at it, but generally, one can apply effective communication skills to any conversation. The need for good Leadership communication skills cannot be overemphasized as they improve the level of understanding between management and employee and other teams; encourage sharing; Enhance performance; Reduce errors: Improve efficiency; Improve motivation.

Poor leadership communications skill on the other hand, do not only result in a loss of employee’s productivity and customers but play a significant role in every other major area of a company’s success including their ability to contend with competitors, keep employee retention low, and maintain adequate turnover.

A leader displaying strong communication skills can not only encourage their team to perform their work efficiently, but also foster a trusting work environment that helps their employees feel comfortable in sharing their feelings and ideas. When employees are informed and engaged, they will give extra effort to their work, which increases overall performance and productivity. Work productivity, in its simplest definition, is the output per unit of input, for example, production output per labour hours. The employee productivity measurement is a crucial factor not only from organisational perspective but also from several other perspectives. Employee productivity is one of the many factors that contribute to indicators of the success of the workplace or the well-being of that business or society, Beaton (2009).

An employee performs effectively when he is motivated.  Motivation refers to the forces either within or external that arouses a person enthusiasm to pursue a certain course of action. Employee motivation affects productivity and it is part of leadership job to motivate towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. A simple model of human motivation is demonstrated in a situation where an employee is rewarded for his outstanding performance in his given task by ways such as for recognition, promotion, monetary gain and recommendation.

However, the leadership of any organization is a corporate coordinated activity with the aim of achieving the organisation’s goal. In order word, it is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of a vision of the organization.  In the business of production or manufacturing factory like Kings Flour Mill, the goal is to breakeven and make profit for the owners. This cannot be achieved without the pool of both human and material resources together through communication.

We all find ourselves in situations that require us to take the lead. At work we may be asked to organize a meeting, workshop, or conference; at home we may decide to organize a family meeting, reunion, etc; at school we may help launch a new activity for our fellow-students, organize a debate competition; in the street we may witness an accident and want to assist those involved, lead in the environmental sanitation of the area; in the church, we may lead in songs and praises or prayer. These are just a few illustrations of situations which would require us to take the leadership role.

We do these with an expectation of reward. The reward may be: intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards are the satisfactions a person receives in the process of performing a particular action. For example, the completion of a complex task may bestow a pleasant feeling of accomplishment, or solving a problem that benefits others. Extrinsic reward are given by another person, typically a manager, and include promotions, pay increases, and bonuses. Most employees are motivated by the extrinsic reward by leadership to do more. However, although extrinsic rewards are important, good leadership strive to help employee also achieve intrinsic rewards as well to give the employee passion for work.

In a manufacturing company like Kings Flour Mill, the company’s output greatly depends on employee productivity. King Flour Mill is a flour mill

factory own by Akwa Ibom State Government. The Company was established in 2019 with a production capacity of 500 metric tons per day and staff strength of 300 workers. The company is located at Mkpok, Onna Local Government.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Flour Mills, Mr. Onur Kumral,  “the company vision and mission is to produce and supply products of superior quality to enrich the lives of consumers, employees and all stakeholders”. Kings Flour Mill like any other organizations has its own organizational communication pattern to enable employee, and management relate well.

In this study we are going to examine the Leadership communication in the Company as it influences employee’s productivity, the Company’s Organisation chart to examine the channels and flow of Communication between the management and employee.

1.2       Statement of the Research Problem

It has been observed that no Business Organisation succeeds without good management. Management is a comprehensive activity involving the combination and coordination of human, physical and financial resources, in a way which produce a commodity or service offered at a price to be paid for by consumers, while making the working environment for those involved conducive for effective business activities. In other words, management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of Organisational members and resources to achieve set goals. Management involves the achievement of goals for the Organisation. It is a process by which we achieve desired results through efficient utilisation of human and material resources.  when we talk of management in this sense, we are referring to the leadership of the Organaisation which is headed by a Manager. Although leadership and manager are not the same, a good leader can be a good manager. There are certain qualities and characteristics expected of leadership that stimulate employee productivity resulting to the achievement of the Organisation’s goals and vice-versa. Such qualities like good communication skill, good sense of judgment, personal integrity, good listener, good attitude to work etc. Such qualities are what stimulate employee productivity for the attainment of the Organisation’s end.

A cursory participant’s observation of Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State shows communication gap between leadership and employee. The ineffective or lack of effective leadership communication leads to misunderstanding; This hinders employee’s productivity in the company; cause delay in production, lack of enthusiasm to work and bottleneck in the employee getting his request done by the management. And consequently affect their productivity. This study seeks to answer the questions: what leadership style exists in Kings Flour Mill. How does this affect influence employee productivity in Kings Flour Mill.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are:

1. Identify the style and type of leadership communication in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State.
2. Ascertain employees’ perception of the leadership communication in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State.

• Find out the organizational communication in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State.

1. Examine how Leadership Communication influences employee productivity in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State.
2. Suggest ways of improving employee productivity in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa      Ibom State.

• Research Question

1. what style and type of leadership communication exist in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State?
2. How does employee perceive leadership communication in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State?

• To what extent does communication flow in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State?

1. Does Leadership Communication influence employee’s productivity in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State?
2. Can Leadership communication be used to improve employee’s productivity in Kings Flour Mill, Akwa Ibom State?

• Significance of the Study

This study when completed will add to the existence body of knowledge on the subject matter under enquiry. It will

also give insight or in-depth knowledge on Leadership Communication in Kings Flour Mill which other organization can imbibe.

1.5       Scope/Limitation of the Study

This study’s focus is Kings Flour Mill Company located at Onna, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. 

1.6       Operational Definition of Terms

Management: The concept of Management as used here refers to those employees in the leadership position who plan, coordinate, organize, ultilise both  human and material resources of the Company for the achievement of the Company’s set goal.

Leadership: This is the act of providing direction, vision, goal setting for meeting the set ends and as well as maintaining the focus.

Communication: This refers to an act of sharing and exchange of information, messages from the management to the employee as well as from one employee to another.

Organisational Communication: Organisational Communication denotes communication within and among particular group of people working together in an Organisation.

Leadership Communication: This refers to the communication skills or a manner through which the leadership passes information to the employee

Communication Satisfaction: This refers to the sense of fulfillment, contentment, pleasure employee derived from the message or information passed to him by the leadership of the organization.