The Impact Of Effective Communication Skills On Career Growth

Introduction
Importance of Communication

In a survey conducted by the Katz business school at the University of Pittsburgh, organizations
rated communication skills as the most important factor used in selecting their management staff.
The study found that oral and written communication skills were important in predicting job
success, as was the ability to communicate well with others in the workplace.

If you can communicate well, you can get your message across to others in an effective way and
they have then accurate instructions to complete their assigned tasks. If you are not able to
communicate well, the massages you send get lost in translation. Communication breakdowns
result in barriers against ones ability to develop both professionally and personally.

Even though communication skills are so important to success in the workplace, there are many
individuals who find these skills to be a stumbling block to their progress. They struggle to
convey their thoughts and ideas in an accurate manner, making it difficult to progress and nearly
impossible to lead well.

What Is Communication?

Communication involves getting information from one person to the other person. It is the art
and process of creating and sharing ideas. Effective communication depends on the richness of
those ideas.

What Are Communication Skills?

Communication skills are the tools that we used to remove the barriers to effective
communication. Communication is a two- Way Street; the person on the other side of those
barriers will also try to send messages back to you. Your ability to understand them clearly and
could be left to a dependence on their ability to use communication skills. To be successful at
communicating, its important to recognize that barriers to communication can occur at multiple
points in the communication process.

The Communication Process

The communication process is composed of several stages, each of which offers potential
barriers to successful communication. These are:

Source

Message

Encoding

Channel
 Decoding

Receiver

Feedback

Context

Source

Message Message

ege ege

g
Encodin
Receiver

Context

Message Message

ege ege

Decoding
Channel
Message

ege

The communication process

Source

The source of communication is the sender. In order to be a good source, one has to be clear
about the message that is being sent. The sender must know why the communication is necessary
and what result is needed.

Message

The source of the message is sender. The message is simply the information which one wants to
communicate. Without a message there is no cause for communicating. The sender must know
why the communication is necessary and what result is needed.
Encoding

Encoding is the process of taking message and transferring it into the proper format for sharing it
with the audience. It requires knowing about the audience and ensuring that the message
provides all of the information that they need. One should use simple language so that the
audience could understand also the context they are familiar with.

Channel

The channel is the method or methods that one uses to convey information. Channels include
face to face conversations, by telephone or video conferences and written communications like
emails and memos.

Decoding

It is the process of receiving the message accurately and requires that the audience has the means
to understand the information that is being shared.

Receiver

Receiver is a person for whom the message is intended or aimed. The degree to which the
decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of
recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder or decoder.

Feedback

Feedback lets us gauge how successful one was at communicating. It also offers a chance to
adjust ones communication process for the future.

Context

Context involves things such as sender relationship with audience, the culture of sender
organization and general environment of a sender.

Perspectives in communication
Introduction

We all come to each communication exchange with our own filter through which we s the world,
the person we are communicating with, and the situation or topic we are communicating about.
These filters mean that we dont always start with the same perspectives as the person we are
communicating with.
Language

The different perspectives we experience can be with the language. The same words can have
very different meanings depending on how we interpret them.

Larry Barker said:

Effective listeners remember that words have no meaning, people have meaning. The
assignment of meaning to a term is an internal process; meaning comes from inside us. And
although our experiences, knowledge and attitudes differ, we often misinterpret each others
messages while under the illusion that a common understanding has been achieved.

Environment

All of us communicate differently in different environment. Recognizing how the environment

might be affecting others you communicate with is a skill that can come in handy, particularly
when one perceive that the environment is having a negative impact on ones ability to
communicate effectively with someone.

Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair
trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden
thoughtless act.

- James Thurber

Prejudices

We all have prejudices. They occur when we take our past experiences with a person and assume
that the same type of experiences will happen with all people who are similar to the first.
Prejudices are partly due to culture and partly due to personal experiences or preferences.

Background
This research study defines communication barriers; a school administrator has no greater
responsibility than to develop effective communication (Pauley, 2010). Why then does
communication break down? On the surface, the answer is relatively simple. I have identified the
elements of communication as the sender, the encoding, the message, the medium, the decoding,
the receiver, and the feedback. If noise exists in these elements in any way, complete clarity of
meaning and understanding does not occur. The author, George Bernard Shaw wrote, The
greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished (Shaw,
2011).

The barrier which I will focus in my report will be the language barrier. Social psychology
teaches us that individuals use social categories to order their social environment and reduce the
complexities of the world (Gudykunst and Smith, 1988). They derive part of their individual
identity from the social groups of which they form a part. Social identity is defined as that part
of an individuals self-concept which derives from his [or her] knowledge of his [or her]
membership in a social group (or groups) together with the values and emotional significance
attached to that membership (Tajfel, 1978, p. 63). Linguists Giles and Johnson (1981) assert
that language is one of the major factors used to categorize others, possibly more important than
ethnicity as it is an acquired characteristic and hence provides a more powerful indication of a
persons identity. They are joined by Jean-Claude Usunier, one of the most prominent French
writers in intercultural communication, who argues that: In the universal process of cultural
homogenization, the role of language will remain intact as a key cultural differentiator, while
other sources of cultural differentiation will progressively disappear. (Usunier, 1998, p. 167)
The use of social categories and the importance of social identity have clear implications for
intergroup relationships.

When social identities are salient, groups are likely to interact with each other in terms of
stereotypes and are less likely to be tolerant of mistakes or violations of their social rules (Gallois
and Callan, 1995). According to Gudykunsts Anxiety and Uncertainty Management theory
(1995) the degree of uncertainty in interpersonal interaction will be inversely correlated with
language competence and will increase the tendency to over-estimate the importance of group
membership on behavior. He further argues that this uncertainty leads to a lack of trust and to
increased anxiety, which in turn leads to avoiding interaction with members from different
groups.

Language barriers are therefore likely to play a key role in any multilingual group relationship.
However, perhaps the most pronounced manifestation of the language barrier at work can be
found in the relationship between a multinational parent company and its network of
international subsidiaries, a relationship characterized by several distinguishing features: Often,
and especially in relationships born out of acquisitions, the language competence of the second
language users is at neither extreme of the language barrier. Typically, the second language users
will have some proficiency, but not enough to be totally relaxed and effective in the
communication. Generally, the communications are not interpersonal in nature, but more
typically are encounters between language groups: a parent company management team and the
corresponding management team of the subsidiary.

Frequently, the lines of communication are distorted by the presence of expatriate personnel in
the subsidiary organization, who intervene in the communication process to bypass the formal
reporting chain. Increasingly, as non-English speaking companies adopt English as their
corporate language, the relationships are imbalanced when it is the parent company management
rather than the subsidiary management that is compelled to work in its second language. Finally,
the parent subsidiary relationship, like any other business situation, contains a degree of tension
and divergent goals. The parent wishes to exercise control and direction while the subsidiary
seeks autonomy and an escape from central control. Each of these factors contributes to the
difficulty of achieving and sustaining effective communications, and a productive, collaborative
relationship.

Statement of the Problem

Increased globalization is forcing a growing number of business managers and employees to
interact across linguistic boundaries (Lauring, 2008). Since language affects almost all aspects of
everyday life, there needs more of a focus on communication barriers by researchers and
practitioners engaged in international business and management (Henderson, 2005). The issue of
language barriers is particularly critical during intercultural service encounters. Intercultural
service encounters, where the customer and the service provider are from different cultures, is
very common in the service sector. Such intercultural service encounters may be influenced not
only by cultural differences but also by language barriers. Customers may find it difficult to
communicate or even get necessary information regarding products or services. Despite its
importance, the effects of language barriers on ESL (English as a Second Language) customers
service experiences have been largely neglected in academic research. Language is not only a
medium of communication, but also linked to an individuals identity (Lauring, 2008) therefore
these barriers may influence various aspects of the service experience. Applying this notion to
the U.S. restaurant context, this study aims to investigate the impact of language barrier on ESL
customers dining experiences in the U.S

The intention is to explore the current issues that affect language barrier in US restaurant
and ideas relating to practice
It is also an attempt to identify some possible solutions and to suggest further research
pathways that may yield outcome.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Language is the key to a persons self-identity. It enables the person to express emotions, share
feelings, tell stories, and convey complex messages and knowledge. Language is our greatest
mediator that allows us to relate and understand each other (Imberti, 2007). It can be defined as a
system of conceptual symbols that allows us to communicate. It also provides us with a
significant frame of reference and a relational context that sustains our identities (Imberti, 2007).
The social identity theory (Tajfel, 1974; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) focuses on the understanding of
psychological processes driving intergroup discrimination. The categorization of in-groups
versus out-groups can be generated when customers recognize certain cues, such as language,
that delineate cultural differences (Brickson, 2000; Nkomo and Cox, 1996). Not being able to
identify with other cultural groups may lead to negative attitudes towards such groups (Bartel,
2001). A sense of ignorance due to such differences can prevent ESL customers from interacting
with domestic servers (Baker & Haretl, 2004). Consequently, the understanding of the link
between language and social identity patterns is of great importance to the international business
community. Surprisingly, literature is silent regarding the effects of language barriers on ESL
customers. However, literature on intercultural service encounters and low literate consumers
may be relevant Literature on intercultural services marketing seems to run counter to the notion
of the social identification theory. While the social identification theory suggests that not being
able to identify with other cultural groups leads to negative consequences, studies on
intercultural services argue that customers adjust their service evaluation standards and tend to
be more understanding in intercultural service encounters. For example, Strauss and Mang
(1999) state that customers do not perceive inter-cultural encounters to be more problematic than
intracultural encounters. Warden et al. (2003) agree with this notion and states that customers are
more forgiving of service failures in the context of intercultural encounters. However, it is
noteworthy that these studies do not examine the emotional and cognitive mechanisms that
customers may go through when interacting with inter-cultural service providers. ESL consumers
can also be perceived as low literate customers in terms of their English skills. They struggle not
only with reading and writing but also with listening and speaking English. Low literacy levels
are associated with a range of negative market outcomes. Adkins and Ozanne (1998) identified
problems encountered by low literate consumers ranging from choosing the wrong product to
misunderstanding pricing information. Similarly, Viswanathan, et al. (2003) found that low
literate consumers experience difficulties with effort versus accuracy trade-offs when making
purchase decisions. Overall, previous studies suggest that language is more than just a
communication tool (Imberti, 2007; Lauring, 2008) and can influence different aspects of the
service encounter for ESL customers. Accordingly, it is essential to better understand how
language barriers affect ESL customers service experience.

Methods of study
As I have chosen the language barrier in US restaurants then I will go with a secondary method
to explore my research.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES

English is a unique language. Especially for those countries who focus more on their national
language. For example in Korea English is a mandatory subject and if we see Asian countries
they also prefer to speak in English. Future studies can observe how cultural factors affect the
impact of language barrier by comparing Korean customers to other different cultural
background customers.

References
1. Adkin, N. R., & Ozanne, J. L. (2005). The Low Literate Consumer. Journal of
Consumer Research, 32, 93-105.
2. Barker, S., & Haertel, C. E. J. (2004). Intercultural service encounters:
exploratory study of customer experiences. Cross Cultural Management, 11(1),
3-14.
3. Mind tools. com. Communication Skills articles, various. Retrieved May 1,
2010.http://www.mindtools.com/page8. html