Human Resources Problem
Subject Analyze the ways to enhance listening skills of the newly hired employees thus eliminate the problems of poor performance and misunderstanding caused by them.
Recent review of the drilling and engineering department showed that for the last six months performance of the department had worsened. Before, the department was one of the best . Six months ago number of people left the department due to their personal problems. That period was very tough for the company. Whole department was actively engaged in the new project. Unexpected leave of the employees and urgent need for the workers forced managers to hire new workers in a very short period of time without substantial review. New employees had good resumes and seemed enthusiastic about the job. It was expected that in the beginning new employees will adapt to the working environment performance of the department will go down. But time was passing and the performance didn’t seem to get better. Senior managers started to get worry about the issue. If performance of the department would not increase the company can face real big problems with the project and loose a lot of profit
I as a Human Resources manager decide to examine the problem in the details. I spoke with the managers of the department. They told me about a problem with the new employees; they have acquired all the necessary skills, they are diligent, always on the time but seems that there are misunderstanding between them and their supervisors. Employees usually fail to comply with the task given to them, they misunderstand the assignment and then supervisors need to explain them again what they want and from the second or maybe even from the third time the employees succeed. Because of the misunderstanding the work process slows down hence performance worsens. “They just don’t listen” – concluded the manager.
The last sentence caught my attention. I needed to understand the reason for the misunderstanding and the reason was that employees lacked listening skills. Most of them were recent graduates and didn’t have any work experience, they tended to do everything as they were taught at school and didn’t listen to their supervisors.
For the beginning I would like to know the level of the listening skills of the employees. For this purpose it will be necessary to conduct Listening tests to see how attentively they are listening.
Then when the situation is clear to effectively eliminate the problem with the listening we should take number of steps.
The next problem is an Autocratic Leadership. In an autocratic leadership employees have no say. All decisions are made by the management. This is a problem because even though management may know what is best for the company, they do not know what is best for the employees. They should listen to the employee’s ideas and not dismiss them immediately. (toolbox, Leadership Styles: Autocratic leadership)
Listening is defined as having the skill to effectively comprehend the information that is being transmitted by the other party without being distracted, thinking about what your response will be to the speakers’ comments or interrupting the person that is speaking. The effective use of listening skills among leaders and employees is extremely beneficial for every organization. When leaders are able to communicate properly and the employees are listening effectively, the corporations’
a failure to accomplish all the tasks necessary to hire the new employees in a
Verbal and written communication skills are important competencies in the workplace, as much as 33 percent of the day is spent listening (Walker, R., 2015). Although a significant amount of our time is spent listening, this is a misunderstood skill often overlooked by professionals. “The ability to listen effectively can have a big impact on our ability to communicate well with others. Effective listening can help us build relationships, be more productive, and determine whether others are being deceptive” (Walker, R., 2015). To be an effective manager, teacher, collaborator, or leader one must be an effective listener. Effective listening is processing the information given to you by a speaker, showing that you are listening and attentive.
The main problems that are affecting the company were the high level of labour turnover, below target production rates, high levels of scrap, the employees had little input in the decision making, therefore resulting in low motivation and job satisfaction, and didn't have enough feedback on there performance. Added to this was the conflict between the supervisors and employees in the production and packing areas, and the grading and payment levels wasn't satisfactory to the employees.
Let´s focus on communication, specifically listening. , As employees each of you have a leadership role based on your positions. In these positions you are required to take instructions, present guidance, make decisions, and implement policy. If you cannot listen effectively, you will miss critical instructions, mislead guidance, make less informed decisions, and hopefully never implement the wrong policies.
Every business consists of a variety of communication activities such as listening, speaking, questioning, gathering and participating in small work groups. The listening skill is one of the most important aspects of communication process. It helps to understand and read the other person’s message. Effective listening skills create positive workplace relationships which influence our opinions and responsiveness to one another.
The skill of listening according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979) extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered a passive capacity or only digesting and processing bits and pieces of the speaker’s message. This type of listening lends itself to frequent miscommunication, mixed messages and overall misunderstandings. Effective listening on the other hand provides concise communication, decreases interpersonal conflict and mistakes and also...
As a professional in today’s society, it is greatly important to be able to communicate effectively with other professionals, with clients, and with those that are encountered in daily living. In order to communicate in a proper manner, not only is talking and non-verbal communication, but a large aspect is the ability to listen. Listening is a vital task in order to build a relationship and find meaning in someone else’s words. In order to find this meaning one must follow the characteristics of active listening, face the challenges to listening, and reflect upon one’s own listening skills.
In conclusion communication plays an important role in people’s personal and professional lives. As much as 70 percent of work time is spent communicating with others. Several barriers to communication exist (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, Chapter 4). They range from emotional feelings to physical obstacles that prevent the free flow of information. Effective listening and feedback is a technique that anyone can learn. Anyone tasked with the job of communicating would need to keep in mind the goal of any communication, specifically, to deliver accurate information. By following the simple strategies of communication, anyone can eliminate the frustration of poor communication.
There are five concepts of listening that play an important role in the communication process. Sharpening our listening skills can benefit our professional lives and our customer service skills. Various techniques can help us improve our listening skills. Active listening involves sitting forward, making eye contact, nodding to prompt the speaker, asking clarifying questions, and taking notes. Distractions and personal biases can hinder our ability to listen effectively. Furthermore, effective listening is directly related to memory; improving our listening skills and practicing memory techniques often can dramatically increase our ability to capture the speakers message.
Let’s explore why listening is so critical. “Adam listened to Eve. In that first spoken word message and all since, no communication occurred until there was a listener. It follows, then, that there has become a much-heightened need to listen. We must understand the fundamental relationship involved, we cannot escape it” (Mills 1). The characteristics of good listening skills can be best understood by using the acronym MASTER. The “m” refers to mental. Mental is the ability to slow down and strategically control our ability to listen. “A” refers to active. Being active utilizes constructive listening responses and constant practice can keep this sharp. The “s” refers to sustaining attention. Experienced concentration is crucial for sustaining attention. “T” refers to target. There are four types of potential listening targets; responsive listening, implicative listening, critical listening and nondirective listening. Responsive listening is the agreement between listener and speaker. Implicative listening involves carefully understanding what is implied by hearing what is said. Critical listening is the process of coming to the point of a subject by clearing away all the non-important information. Nondirective listening is fully hearing the speaker out. The “e” refers to eliminating t...
Generally, the underlying need of effective communication strategies and planning is to be acknowledged. Ignorance shown through an inappropriate listening style shows aloofness and lack of interest.
Listening is one of the most powerful tools of communication and is a process that is used to receive, convey a meaning, and respond to both verbal and nonverbal messages. It is what we choose to do and it requires more work than speaking. Oftentimes, people simply misunderstand the difference between listening and hearing. Hearing is a passive process that takes in sounds and noises and listening is what you choose to do. This selective process includes 5 phases that can be acquired for us to become effective listeners in the future. The 5 phases are attending, understanding, remembering, critically evaluating (listening), and responding. Once the 5 different areas are understood, we will become aware of what needs to change and how we can change them. This will also allow us to improve our listening skills in the workplace, school, at home, etc.
have more of a major effect on the company's health. Irving Burstiner was quoted in in The