Business Communication Quarterly
75(4) 466–475
© 2012 by the Association for
Business Communication
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DOI: 10.1177/1080569912458965
http://bcq.sagepub.com
458965 BCQ75410.1177/108056991245896
5Business Communication QuarterlyHynes
1Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
Corresponding Author:
Geraldine E. Hynes, Department of General Business and Finance, College of Business Administration,
Box 2056, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA
Email: [email protected]
Improving Employees’
Interpersonal
Communication
Competencies: A
Qualitative Study
Geraldine E. Hynes1
Abstract
Companies that recognize the relationship between employee engagement and
business success will seek ways to foster and facilitate workers’ emotional well-being.
One way to encourage employee engagement is to provide training in interpersonal
communication. This research analyzes what one U.S.-based company is doing
to achieve that goal. The company and the evolution of its communication training
program are described, with a focus on an interpersonal communication component.
Methods used for evaluating learning outcomes are outlined, along with some
results. Finally, this study proposes several implications of this case study for business
communication professionals.
Keywords
business practices, case studies, corporate training, interpersonal communication
The work environment has long been recognized as having a profound effect on
employee performance. Workers’ attitudes toward their managers, coworkers, and
organizations are usually reflected in their output. In The Progress Principle: Using
Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, Amabile and Kramer
(2011) describe the effects of employee engagement in detail. They studied 238 professionals in seven different companies in three industries, charting the employees’
Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace 467
psychological state each day for 2 years, as reflected in electronic diary entries. Their
analysis revealed the subjects’ “inner work lives”—perceptions, emotions, and motivations that they experienced as they made sense of their workday (p. 20). The study
found that employees’ inner work lives influenced performance on four dimensions:
creativity, productivity, work commitment, and collegiality.
Amabile and Kramer’s (2011) findings, though impressive enough to make their
book a business bestseller, are not surprising. Classic research by Herzberg (1968)
demonstrated that a worker’s motivation to do excellent work is not tied to pay or
benefits. Instead, Herzberg found that motivation is the result of having interesting,
challenging work that allows an employee to achieve and to feel recognized.
Research by Riketta (2008) exemplifies more recent studies that confirm a direct,
causal relationship between work performance and factors such as satisfaction, motivation, and a positive attitude. Lim, Cortina, and Magley (2008), taking a different
tack in their research, found that incivility and feelings of disrespect negatively
effected job satisfaction and attitude toward work. Beyond effecting workers’ emotions, interpersonal relationships can effect career paths. That is, companies often
reward employees who have positive influences on coworkers’ attitude toward work.
A study by Cross and Parker (2004) found that employees who energized coworkers
were given better performance evaluations and were promoted faster. Reinsch and
Gardner (2011) cited the results of a national survey of senior business executives,
confirming that workers with strong interpersonal skills are considered for additional
promotions. Sandelands and Boudens (2000) demonstrated that “the meaning of work
derives from the connections with coworkers, not from the work itself” (p. 46). They
concluded that workers perform better when they are happily engaged in what they do.
Companies that recognize the relationship between employee engagement and
business success may seek ways to foster and facilitate workers’ emotional well-being.
One approach to encouraging and supporting employee engagement is to provide
training in interpersonal communication. Helping employees develop healthy workplace relationships makes good business sense. The purpose of this research is to
describe what one U.S.-based company is doing to achieve that goal.
A cogent rationale for qualitative studies in our discipline was proposed by Tucker,
Powell, and Meyer (1995). They argued that qualitative studies can be important contributions to the corpus of business communication research because “qualitative
research methods can answer numerous questions about the who, what, when, where,
why, and how of communication” (p. 395). Furthermore, a qualitative study can be
justified because of “the opportunity it provides to get in touch with the feelings, concerns, and needs of the business community” (p. 396). The following sections present
a study of a company and its commitment to employee learning and development. The
information was gathered during extensive, multiple interviews over a 14-month
period with six decision makers (a senior officer, two directors, a department head,
and two instructional designers). The company and the evolution of its communication
training program are described below, with a focus on an interpersonal communication
component. Evaluation of learning outcomes is a key step in any training or education
effort, and the company’s evaluation methods are also outlined, along with some
468 Business Communication Quarterly 75(4)
findings. Finally, several implications of this case study for instructors of business communication are identified.
Company Profile and
Role of the IT Training Department
The company profiled below has a marquee name but is privately held. Thus, although
the factual information reported here is accurate, all identifying information about the
company and individuals interviewed has been omitted, in compliance with the nondisclosure conditions under which this research was conducted. The company is the
largest in its industry, with annual revenues exceeding US$10 billion. It operates in
North and South America, Europe, and Asia. It is included in the Forbes list of the
500 largest private companies in America. If publicly traded, this company would
rank in the top 200 on Fortune’s list of the 500 largest public companies in America.
The scope of this study is the IT (information technology) division of the company,
which consists of about 1,300 knowledge workers—network engineers, application
developers, programmers, managers, and project leaders. Their work requires them to
find creative solutions to complex problems. They are regularly offered training and
development opportunities to enhance both technical skills and professional competencies. The training and development department is considered a workforce service,
and the goals are learning as well as performance management.
Prior to 2010, training offered to the core IT workforce focused primarily on technical topics and leadership. A member of the IT Learning Team described the program
as instructor led, built internally, and time consuming. Early in 2010, the IT Learning
Team launched a different model and an expanded approach. That summer they conducted an extensive needs analysis, interviewing 60 senior managers across the corporation to determine the most important IT training needs. During the interviews they
asked, “tell us about your A players,” in an attempt to identify best practices and to
determine the gaps between expected and actual performance.
The interview results indicated that the Learning Team needed to go wide. They
identified eight soft skills that the senior managers believed contributed the most to
employee performance, and communication was at the top of the list. After following
up with the interviewees to determine what they meant by communication, the
Learning Team identified specific topics, including virtual and face-to-face meetings,
formal presentations, team skills, email, and interpersonal communication. The senior
managers complained that the IT workforce were generally uncomfortable while
speaking, had difficulty getting their points across, and would speak over the heads of
their corporate business partners (nontechnical). When speaking with colleagues and
team members, they had difficulty identifying key points and frequently “got lost
in the weeds” of detail.
The corporate culture is “fun and friendly, where teamwork rules”; flexible; and
collaborative. Employees are expected to socialize early and often while also being
driven problem solvers. Thus, the senior managers envisioned an IT workforce consisting of staff who do not need to be told what to develop but are aware, proactive,
Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace 469
and interactive with their end users. The Learning Team’s investigation had clearly
identified a business need.
Development of the
Communication Training Program
The Learning Team decided that rather than try to use internal resources, they would
look for external vendors, subject matter experts who would partner with the team to
provide more dynamic programs. This author has provided communication consulting
and training as an independent contractor with the company for a number of years. In
December 2010, a senior manager of the IT business unit requested a proposal for a
module in the communication training program menu that was under development.
The focus of the module was daily workforce communication. The learning goal was
clear, concise communication among IT professionals as well as between IT professionals and corporate (nontechnical) people in informal, everyday interactions. I began
working with the company’s instructional designers to hammer out a half-day session
that would be offered to a maximum of 20 employees. Program development included
soliciting ideas and real-life examples from interviews with department managers as
well as the Learning Team. During this period, I learned more about the corporate
culture, jargon and acronyms, values, and business goals, so I could reference them
during program delivery.
After 4 months of preparation, we rolled out a pilot. The session participants
included IT professionals as well as the managers who would be deciding who to send
to future training sessions. Postprogram evaluations were solicited, and adjustments
were made to the program materials. The official launch was 2 months later, in May
2011, and sessions continue to be offered. Due to the small number of participants who
may attend each session (20) and the large pool of eligible employees (1,300), sessions
are scheduled as frequently as logistical factors allow.
The training program’s content and materials are proprietary and therefore cannot
be described in detail here. Briefly, the program focuses on daily interactions with
three audiences: superiors, peers in IT, and nontechnical colleagues in the company.
Concrete tactics and strategies are presented, along with a range of realistic examples.
The program offers opportunities for discussion and practice and ends with the trainees developing action plans for applying what they learned.
Training Evaluation Methods and Results
Feedback from the participants is solicited immediately postprogram via surveymonkey.com and again after 60 to 90 days. The first survey asks for satisfaction ratings of
the instructor, materials, topics, and activities. It also asks participants which parts of
the program they found to be most valuable and what changes they recommend. The
subsequent survey attempts to determine the extent to which participants have actually changed their behaviors because of the training. The following is an example of
an item in a posttraining survey:
470 Business Communication Quarterly 75(4)
Behavior
Task
I attempted and
completed this
task with good
results
I attempted
and completed
this task but
had difficulty
I attempted
this task but
was unable to
complete it
I have not
attempted
this task
Avoided jargon and used
analogies to enhance the
message
Employed active listening
techniques such as
clarifying questions
Used different sequences
of ideas based on my
message’s purpose
Open-ended survey responses capture comments and recommendations for future
programs. One participant wrote, “This is a very practical topic. It’s one of those
things you learn and use immediately. It was helpful and I would recommend it to
anyone at any level to enroll.” Another wrote,
Yes, I would recommend it. Especially good were instructions on how best to
communicate upward. As our workforce (and the U.S. workforce in general)
continues to diversify, classes and/or continued education courses like this are
a real necessity. Please continue to offer this type of in-house training. Thanks
again.
Because the Learning Team recognizes that self-report of behavioral change may
not be an accurate assessment of training impact, they also solicit feedback from the
trainees’ supervisors. According to a member of the Learning Team, anecdotes and
stories about trainees’ behavior are considered to be valid evidence of a program’s
effectiveness. She called this approach the success case method. When asked whether
any attempt is made to measure outcomes at the corporate level, such as return on
investment, the Learning Team member said that would be very difficult to quantify.
Furthermore, she said that her human resources colleagues working in other corporations agree that tracking the effects of training on retention, profitability, or similar
metrics is impractical, if not impossible.
Nevertheless, employees who attempt to change their behavior after attending
training are recognized and rewarded. Communication is a key competency in performance reviews. If a supervisor rates an employee as higher than satisfactory on a
performance evaluation scale, this rating can effect salary adjustments and even promotion considerations. One supervisor, for example, commended his direct report for
contributing to discussions during meetings when, prior to the communication training, he had typically remained silent.
Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace 471
Next Steps for the Communication Training Program
At this time, the interpersonal communication module is one of four in the communication training program, with modules on other topics under development. As for
improving the module on daily workplace interactions, adjustments are made as
needed. That is, if the postprogram evaluations show a trend—if, for example, a significant number of trainees say they tried but are struggling—then the training program is changed to improve the outcomes.
To date, the IT Learning Team has accumulated 1 year’s worth of data from the
evaluations. Because results indicate that only 25% of the trainees who responded to
the evaluations stated that they either do not remember or have not applied any of the
strategies or techniques presented, the interpersonal communication module is considered to be highly successful.
Going forward, the Learning Team plans to launch an effort to encourage the trainees’ supervisors to reinforce the training. Limited resources prevent them from putting
a formal system in place, but their philosophy is that 50% of the value of any learning
comes from postlearning implementation. According to this view, another 25% comes
from manager coaching and feedback. Only 25% of the value comes from time spent
in the classroom. One strategy being developed to enlist the supervisors’ support is an
impact map that will tell the supervisors about a training module’s objectives and topics and then suggest ways to reinforce the learning outcomes.
On a larger scale, the Learning Team is developing a blended learning model for its
training program. According to this model, a face-to-face (or virtual) class is considered a live kickoff. Within 2 months after the class, trainees are asked to participate in
a series of online interactive sessions, such as a topic blog, brief phone Q&A (Question
and Answer), simulation, discussion board, and group assignment. The department’s
senior managers, not professional trainers, lead these activities. The stated goals of the
follow-up activities are building self-awareness and reinforcement of the learning.
Benefits of the blended learning model are that it is a student-owned time commitment, is self-paced, and has a flexible format that builds the trainees’ skills. Furthermore,
the model builds the skills of the senior managers and project managers who lead the
webinars, manage the blogs, and conduct the Q&A phone sessions.
The company that is the subject of this study provides a noteworthy example of
how businesses support the improvement of their employees’ interpersonal communication competencies. A limitation of this study should be pointed out, however. There
are no long-term metrics concerning the effectiveness of the communication training
program that could contribute to our knowledge of the effects of training on retention,
improved customer service, or profitability.
Conclusions and Implications for
Business Communication Professionals
This research described a U.S.-based company that dedicates considerable resources
to the improvement of employees’ communication skills, particularly their interpersonal
472 Business Communication Quarterly 75(4)
skills. Three apparent implications of this research are relevant to business communication professionals: (a) analysis of real business examples is a valuable classroom
activity, (2) students need to recognize the role of daily workplace interactions in
productivity and job satisfaction, and (3) companies benefit from the consulting services of subject matter experts in business communication.
Companies such as the one described here could be easily studied in the business
communication classroom as real examples of best practices and as a springboard for
analysis and discussion of the role of interpersonal communication in business. Case
study is a widely accepted learning tool in business schools, but business communication professors may not use it as frequently as our colleagues may in other business
disciplines. The Association for Business Communication (ABC) has a record of promoting case study. In 1998, for example, an ABC-sponsored journal, Business
Communication Quarterly, published a special issue on business and management
communication cases. The issue included 15 cases relevant to workplace communication, appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate courses. The cases were accompanied by teaching notes and student sample documents. In the special issue’s
introduction, Rogers and Rymer (1998) listed key benefits of case study:
• Cases provide a context for communicating
• Cases enable active learning
• Cases present communication as social action
• Cases show the collaborative nature of communication
• Cases integrate special topics like interculturalism and ethics
• Cases show communication effectiveness as contingent
• Cases offer scenes for testing theories and models (p. 10)
Rogers and Rymer (1998) concluded that “case pedagogy and research are very
important parts of disciplinary activity” (p. 23).
The following year, the ABC’s Teaching Committee sponsored a column in
Business Communication Quarterly that explained how to use cases in our classes
(Dyrud & Worley, 1999). The column provided several examples, ranging from the
theoretical to the pragmatic. It offered resources for more cases, both short and comprehensive, including useful websites and a bibliography of sources dealing with the
case method. Dyrud and Worley noted as benefits that “cases rapidly engage student
interest, help them practice discussion and decision-making skills in an arena that is
conducive to experimentation, and require a high level of interaction between students
and instructors” (p. 76). Thus, business communication educators generally agree that
studying real business cases such as the one described here adds value to our classroom teaching.
A second implication of this research is that interpersonal communication appears
to be just as important, if not more so, than business writing or making professional
presentations in the business curriculum. Over the past 30 years, the literature has
consistently indicated that recruiters consider a candidate’s communication skills to be
among the most important criteria for hiring (Hopkins, Raymond, & Carlson, 2011;
Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace 473
Velasco, 2012). A study by Kirmer and Sellers (2009) attempted to clarify which communication skills recruiters valued most highly. After analyzing survey responses
from 94 campus recruiters, Kirmer and Sellers found that oral communication skills—
formal speaking, teamwork, interpersonal communication, and listening—rated highest. Hynes and Sigmar (2009) also administered a survey to approximately 100 campus
recruiters representing 45 businesses and government agencies in order to determine
the relative importance of various communication skills. Their results were consistent
with those of the studies described earlier in this paragraph—the recruiters ranked
courses in daily workplace relationships and team communication as more important
for success in their companies than courses in business writing, presentations, office
technology, and intercultural business communication. Job Outlook 2012, a national
survey of recruiters conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers,
also found that the “ability to verbally communicate with persons inside and outside
of the organization” ranked higher (#2) than the ability to write reports (#9) on a list of
important skills for new hires to possess (as cited in Koc, 2011, pp. 18-19).
The company profiled here focuses on improving the interpersonal communication
skills of its IT workforce. However, research indicates that workers in all industries
and businesses, not just IT, can benefit from communication training. The Center for
Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania commissions an annual survey of more than 600 human resources professionals and business leaders to gauge
their perceptions of their entry-level employees. The results of the 2012 survey suggest that the majority believe their new hires lack professionalism. The traits mentioned most often by the respondents as being characteristic of professional employees
were “personal interaction skills, including courtesy and respect” (34%), and “the ability to communicate, which includes listening skills” (25%). Similarly, among the traits
associated by the respondents with “unprofessionalism” was “poor communication
skills, including poor grammar” (21%; Center for Professional Excellence at York
College of Pennsylvania, 2012, pp. 19-24).
Since less than half of the survey respondents in the York College study reported
that their companies have training programs on professional behavior, these results
imply that colleges should attempt to foster professionalism among their students.
Thus, a course in interpersonal communication seems appropriate for students who are
preparing for a business career. While typical undergraduate business degree programs offer a course or two in writing and formal speaking, a course dedicated to
interpersonal communication or daily workplace interactions is rarer. At my university, such a course was launched a year ago as a core component of a business communication minor, and it has become so popular that during enrollment periods, the
sections fill before any other business communication course offered. Apparently,
students recognize what the company profiled above recognizes: that daily workplace
communication is a key to success.
A third implication of this study is that business communication professionals
should consider participating in corporate consulting and training activities. Barker
and Camarata (1998) argued that communication is an important component of
474 Business Communication Quarterly 75(4)
learning organizations, and that business communication professionals must be
committed to helping such organizations achieve these goals. Barker and Camarata
presented a case study of an organization that used embedded communication and
relationship building in an effort to remain a learning organization. Implications of
their research included that
communication classes can play a major role in developing student appreciation
and acceptance of learning organizations by continuing to provide the necessary
theory and skills from a relation-based perspective. Professors of communication encouraging an integrated view of organizational, corporate, managerial,
and business communication may produce the generative learning needed for
tomorrow’s organizations and members. (p. 462)
In summary, this research has described a corporation that recognizes the centrality
and criticality of interpersonal communication competencies for workforce productivity and engagement. Studying actual business cases that demonstrate the importance
of communication informs our teaching. Business communication educators who collaborate with companies and other organizations are helping to improve the business
world into which we send our students.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
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Bio
Geraldine E. Hynes is a professor in the College of Business Administration, Sam Houston
State University, Huntsville, Texas, United States, where she teaches business and managerial
communication. She is the author of Managerial Communication: Strategies and Applications
(2011, McGraw-Hill) and is Past President of the Association for Business Communication.
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