Communication Skills in the Workplace -Kevin’s trouble as a freshman
Communication Skills in the Workplace -Kevin’s trouble as a freshman
Fifteen years ago, the typical college graduate looked forward to a 9 to 5 job with a detailed job description. That employee expected a long work history with the same employer and a pension waiting upon retirement. Today, business and industry are downsizing and reengineering. Businesses are trying to increase productivity while decreasing costs, so many U. S. companies are shrinking staffs. Today business and industry leaders are looking for specific skills in entry-level employees. The current workplace trend in education helps to teach those skills, based on the competencies established for all workers by the U.S. Department of Labor. In particular, today’s workers need communication skills: oral, written, and technological.
Kevin is the new employees of one e-business in Honkong named geminideal. “I think I am suitable for this job in that i have enough knowledge and I work hard for my job”. Rely on good English skills, he was named as the maketing manager in the second month and everyone are admiring him very much and he also enjoy very much as a leader to ask his understrapper to according to his willing. However, problems follow him very soon, he found that the people do not like him and even disobey him.
We can trace the current emphasis on education’s responsibility to train students for the workplace to the 1980’s. Think back to that decade. America was rebounding from an economic slump. Competition with other countries was reflected in slogans like “buy American” and film like Gung Ho. A disturbing series of reports on weak workplace skills grabbed the attention of educators and the government. One of the first reports of that decade, as explained by a recent article by Donovan and Schneider in Technology and Learning, was the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk. Schools need input from the workplace in order to develop articulation agreements with business and industry and to establish curricula designed to create a skilled workforce. To insure the changes are carried out, school administrators must also secure the cooperation of the instructors, as pointed out in a recent article by Bragg and Layton in the Community College Review: “No educational reform effort can succeed if it does not have the backing of those who will implement it.” But what do business leaders have to say about necessary skills? I spent summer and fall 1995 finding out. I interviewed twenty employers in the Raleigh-Durham area, all representing one of the technical clusters we offer at Wake Tech: business management, engineering technology, environmental and life science, human and social services, industrial technology, marketing, and medical/health. magazines.
THREE MAIN SKILLS
Employers highlighted three skills needed by all workers: teamwork, flexibility, and communication. A final quality many stressed was a positive attitude in the interview and on the job. Most would not hire an applicant who lacked enthusiasm.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Oral communication is the mode of choice in most workplaces today; the paper memo is dead, replaced by voice mail, informal conversation, and sometimes E-mail or fax-mail. But two writing tasks still loom before the entry level worker: Writing reports and filling out forms. For example, many companies these days are seeking certification in a variety of world class standard programs, like ISO or QS 9000, an automotive quality certification. These certifications require extensive documentation. Workers have to fill out reports that ask them to describe exactly what they do and how they do it.
ORAL COMMUNICATION
We can see that employees still need written communication skills. Yet interpersonal oral communication skills are the ones most prized by employers in the new informal workplace atmosphere. Some employers, like Raychem, even test technicians in their ability to follow oral directions. Employees who work with the public or closely with teams need skills in empathy and feedback techniques, especially in fields such as customer service, criminal justice, medical, and legal. Critical thinking and the ability to function as part of a problem-solving group are also skills that employers look for.
Oral presentation skills lead to promotions. At Buehler Products, those willing to present proposals or recommend strategies are those who are positioned for advancement. The HR there tells of a junior engineer he hired. In five years, that worker had risen to production engineering manager. How? He floated to the top because he demonstrated effective communication skills, he stayed cool under pressure, and he delivered strong presentations. He earned an extra $25,000 a year because of his communication skills. At a local bank, managers noticed that a particular teller was exceptionally good at explaining policies to customers, who often requested her. She was promoted to trainer and a position that provided an extra $10,000 a year and her own office upstairs. Communication skills are essential for promotion. At the Cary Police Department, officers who do not develop communication skills remain officers instead of moving up.
TECHNOLOGY
Written and oral communication skills are very important in today’s high-powered workplace, but employees must also be able to use modern technology to communicate. The technologies most often used for communication are voice mail, E-mail, fax, and word processing.
INTERVIEW AND RESUME PREFERENCES
Although workers need to develop skills in communication and technology, obtaining the job is the first hurdle. And the process of getting a job is grueling. Competition is stiff. Of course, in the Research Triangle, the competition is even stiffer than national statistics indicate. Some employers I spoke with reported getting as many as 300 applications for a single position.
If the resume is lucky enough to be among the few selected, the next step is the interview. One hospital administrator said of a candidate, “If I can’t understand her, and I’m listening as hard as I can, what will a semiconscious patient do?”
The applicant who survives the telephone interview still faces a challenge. The formal interview really begins as soon as the applicant arrives at the site. His or her actions may be noted even out in the parking lot. Almost assuredly, the way the applicant acts in the waiting room will be reported to the interviewer. Interviewers frequently sneak out, ostensibly for a cup of coffee, to scope out the applicant unobserved. In fact, the interviewer may even be substituting at the reception desk.
Employers interviewed also provided examples of questions they frequently ask in interviews. These questions are designed to explore educational background and work experience, certainly. But today’s HR manager is also interested in discovering the style of management the employee responds best to. That is the reason behind the question, “Which manager did you like best?” Personal attributes like flexibility and enthusiasm count, too. Employers do not like to have to coax people into talking about the job.
Applicants may not even get to go through the process for many positions. More often these days, companies hire temporary workers. Considering how difficult the interview process is, it is amazing anyone is ever offered a job. Yet unemployment in our area is very low (hovering at 3.4%), and companies are actively seeking the right kind of worker. That worker is the one with the necessary skills—skills in oral communication, written communication, and teamwork. These are skills that we English instructors teach. They are the skills our students need to obtain a job and to move up. They are skills for a lifetime.
Communication skills, freshman survival, geminideal, the best online shop
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