Organisation Communication

Organizations rely on communication to succeed, and cannot function effectively without it. “If there is no communication, employees cannot know what their coworkers are doing, management cannot receive information input, and supervisors cannot give instructions.” (Newstrom, 2015). In 1999, Engstrom Auto Motor Plant introduced a Scanlon Plan which not only helped turn to around their plant after seeing profitability fall, but improved communication and cooperation. To put the Scanlon Plan into motion, management had to engage in discussions between themselves and with influential workers throughout the plant. With the increase in communication in all levels of the organization, all employees were able to have their voices heard which helped get the buy in of those the organization needed the buy in from.

Over time, companies are required to adjust to the change of corporate culture and the state of the market. Whilst Engstrom created and implemented a Scanlon Plan effectively in 1999, keeping status quo on their communication style without changing to the new needs of the plan and the employees was to their detriment. At the end of the case study, communication fundamentals were becoming overlooked, with the organization’s message becoming unclear and untrusted, which results in the message being received and decoded in a different way as was intended. Ultimately, leading to decreased productivity and a drop-in worker morale and decreased motivation.

The communication breakdown and lack of adaptability stems from a few identifiable issues that management in many companies overlook when reviewing from the top down. Due to the management’s viewpoint and their focus on the pressure of turning the company around, there are a few recommendations that could alleviate the pressure and slowly get Enstrom to back to being a successful and profitable business. More specifically, below will not only walk through communication methods, but the effect that successful communication can have on motivation, productivity and the relationship between employees and management.