Determining employee communication satisfaction in a utility : a case study

Abstract

This case study set out to determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of a Gauteng based utility. This is important firstly, because employees influence the quality of external relationships and secondly, employees are critical stakeholders in organisational goal achievement. The Utility has a critical, strategic, public function in supplying potable water daily to about 12 million people in Gauteng. The Utility's Corporate Business Plan for the period 2003 to 2008 expressed the strategic intent to transform the organisation into a customer orientated organisation. This transformation is underpinned by, inter alia, Organisational Culture Change. The improvement of internal communication was amongst the initiatives undertaken by the Company to promote an organisational culture more reflective of its values. The management communication issue of not knowing whether communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of The Utility militates against the effectiveness of The Utility's internal communication. In turn, the effectiveness of its internal communication impacts on the organisation's intentions of affecting an organisational culture change and transforming into a customer orientated organisation. To determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists is therefore important in the facilitation of such a culture change. The study was positioned in the communication domain, more specifically the sub-domain of management communication. The meta-theoretical framework of the study was the Excellence theory of public relations and communication management. The literature study clarified the major concept of communication satisfaction, as well as its constructs. The second concept of the study, relating to supervisory communication skills, was also described.