4.5: The Need for Good Workplace Communication
Communications is covered further in the "in-class" workshops. This section serves to emphasize the importance of having good workplace communictions skills.
Regardless of corporate structure and culture, the need for excellent workplace communication is universal. It is a subject that has been much discussed amongst social-business analysts over the last decade. The increasing need for strong communication and superior interpersonal skills has eclipsed the historical preference for good subject-specific job skills.
Zig Zigler, in his book Top Performance, cites research that shows 85% of workplace success depends on relational skills. Relational skills are the ones that dictate how well you interact with people – establishing rapport, instilling trust, fostering cooperation, forming alliances, mediating and communicating clearly and positively. And, Stephen Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says: “Communication is the most important skill in life”.
Interpersonal skills are becoming increasingly critical in most Canadian organizations for a variety of reasons: productivity, customer relations, time factors, and even liability. A survey of employers that was conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School found that communication skills and the ability to work with others were the main factors contributing to job success. Similarly, an employer survey conducted by Ottawa’s National Centre for Computer Study (2000) found that people with excellent interpersonal skills and mediocre technical skills were considered more desirable by employers than people with mediocre interpersonal skills and excellent technical ones.
Being competent in one’s field and having current skills no longer guarantees successful employment. To succeed in today’s corporate world, one must also be able to do all of the following:
- Make small talk with people from all levels of the organization
- Be constructive and positive in dealings with people and issues
- Take responsibility for managing conflicts and disagreements
- Remain pleasant even when emotions are high
- Be an effective team player who is loyal to the group and organization
- Manage one’s own productivity, time keeping and schedules effectively
- Treat all co-workers with equal respect
Congratulations! You have finished the fourth self-study module: "Understanding Canadian Employers " .
What would you like to do now?
1) Recommended: Test your knowledge of the information you have studied in: "Understanding Canadian Employers":
Module #4 Test >>
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