Impact of Symmetrical Internal Communication on Determinants of Organizational Employee Performance

Impact of Symmetrical Internal Communication on Determinants of Organizational Employee Performance

(With Special Reference to Colombo District)

HMWM Herath¹*, M.I.F. Ikra²

Department of Management Sciences, Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka

 *Corresponding Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.802008

Received: 15 January 2024; Revised: 22 January 2024; Accepted: 27 January 2024; Published: 27 February 2024

ABSTRACT

The impact of Symmetrical Internal Communication on employee performance factors is explored in this study. Quality employee relationships and supportive attitudes toward the organization could be the outcome of excellent Symmetric Internal Communications. Scholars of public relations have validated this link. As a result, there is a lack of studies on the mechanisms via which Symmetrical Internal Communication affects Employee Performance. However, few researchers look into the aspects that may aid businesses in designing a Symmetrical Internal Communication system in order to improve Employee Performance. Internal communication that is symmetrical adds to employee performance, which, in turn, is a predictor of employee satisfaction with their work Symmetrical Internal Communication and organizational identification on employee performance, providing an integrative conceptual framework and suggesting an improved direction for future research using Symmetrical Internal Communication and Social Identity theory from the perspective of employee communication behavior. 385 employees from various organizations in the Colombo district participated in an online poll. The sample included personnel from the Industry, Service, and Agricultural sectors. The questionnaire contains questions that examine a variety of phenomena, such as respondents’ demographic profile, Symmetrical Internal Communication Characteristics, and Employee Performance.

Keywords: Symmetric Internal Communication, Employee Performance, Trust, Transparent, Consistency

INTRODUCTION

Symmetric Internal communication refers to a set of methods or mechanisms that enable an organization’s participants to share information and collaborate effectively. Symmetric internal communication is one of the most effective tools that can have a huge impact on an organization’s success. When symmetric internal communication is prevalent in an organization, employee engagement rises, business growth accelerates, and workplace productivity rises as well.

Employee performance is associated with favorable employee outcomes such as organizational effectiveness and positive financial returns. (Karen Kelly Wollard, 2011), (Saks, 2006) Employee performance has been the focus of both industry and academic studies. Symmetric internal communication is an enabler of providing support to employees and is one of the primary factors for engaging them within organizations. Transparency as the key to communication, and suggests that communication should be regular, open and verbal to increase trust between employees and management as well as making employees feel important and reducing the chances of the employees not knowing what is going on in the organization. trust between employees and management as well as making employees feel important and reducing the chances of the employees not knowing what is going on in the organization. (Adonis, 2006)

Due to the studies done on symmetrical internal communication on determinants of organizational employee performance are very limited in the context of Sri Lanka, there has been very little attention on that. Therefore, this study carried out to find out whether the concept of impact of symmetric internal communication on determinants of organizational employee performance in Sri Lanka. The theoretical value of this paper lies in the fact that it gives a logical reasoning framework within which empirical determinants and hypotheses may be developed and evaluated in order to justify the conceptual model. Employees with strong identification have more emotional, cognitive, and physical involvement, and perform better at work, according to this study, which suggests that internal symmetrical communication improves determinants of employee performance. It is founded on two social theories: social identity and Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication theory. It also agrees with the findings of (Pugh, 2008) and (Wiley, 2010) who found that communication is crucial in improving employee performance.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Internal symmetrical communication in the organization is built on employee empowerment and participation in decision-making. (Grunig J. E., 1992), (Grunig L. A., 2002) Managers and followers converse in such a communication system and pay attention to one another; Internal media transmit information needed by employees in order to maintain a positive work environment. Individual responsibilities and mutual understanding are both important. As a result, symmetrical communication is important. promotes an organic organizational structure and a participatory organizational culture.

According to a review of the literature, internal symmetrical communication has the following attributes or characteristics:

• Trust, credibility, openness, reciprocity, network symmetry, horizontal communication, feedback, and negotiation – as stated in (Grunig J. E., 1989), cited in (Kim J. N., 2011);
• Transparent – “certain internal organizational practices such as symmetrical and transparent communications with employees have been found to be associated with good EOR quality,” according to in (Men L. R., 2014)
• Consistency – “transparent and consistent internal communication from management was an important driver of employee performance,” according to (Lockwood, 2007)

whereas employee performance is based on the attributes of employee engagement. (Kahn, 1990) and (Truss C, 2006):

• Emotional (involvement in work-related tasks);
• Cognitive (concentration on work-related tasks); and
• Physical (involvement in work-related duties)

As a result, there is a link between internal communication and employee performance.

Conceptual Framework

This research explicitly indicates that internal symmetrical communication, which includes trust, transparency, and consistency traits, influences the emotional, cognitive, and physical engagement of employees, based on the three main assumptions and the adoption of social exchange theory. Internal symmetrical communication also influences the cognitive and emotive components of organizational employee performance, according to social identity theory.

Characteristics of symmetrical

Internal communication:

Figure 2. 1 Conceptual Framework

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This research project already has a well stated research problem. As a result, the researcher must analyze each piece of data acquired as part of the research project in order to determine the link between variables. In order to establish the relationship between variables, the researchers used a quantitative research design and relationship that was measured with numbers and analyzed using statistical processes.

Sample selection

Questionnaire is used as the data collection instrument and it is filled by the respondents which is used to collect data for the survey. This study is based on the primary data that was collected from the sample by using a questionnaire as the data collection instrument. As well as secondary data is also taken into consideration from previous research as a guideline for this research. The independent variable, Symmetrical Internal communication characteristics was adopted from previous literature and these determinants were identified and developed based on Social identity theory. It may be used to explain the impacts of organizational identification on employee performance, since much of the research on organizational identification has been inspired by both social identity theory and the literature on group identification processes (Panagiotis Gkorezis, 2012). According to social identity theory, a strong link between an employee and their employer motivates them to work hard for (and on behalf of) their coworkers and their employer (Blake E Ashforth, 2008).

Table 1: Data Analysis Techniques

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATIONS

• To identify the profile of the Impact of Symmetrical Internal Communication on Employee Performance in Colombo District.

Descriptive techniques have been used for analyzing the demographic characteristics

of respondents to identify the overview of the respondents. The following graph shows the statistics of distribution of gender, martial stage, the distribution of age, the working Industry group, Job position, Income level, Education level, distribution of monthly income and the distribution of length of employment. According to the analysis of gender distribution as a percentage it was accounted for 57% females and 43% males in the sample. As per the age category, majority of the Employees are from the 38-48 age category which was numbered 119 from total responses, that is the highest percentage denoting 31%.

According to the analysis of marital status of the respondents, results indicates that the respondents who are married represent the highest sample which is 42% of the total number of respondents. Whereas singles show 23% of the total respondents. To take the employment job position, they had the option to choose the respective working category which he/she belongs to from 05 categories. Based on the results it denotes that around 40% of the respondents belong to the middle level management employment which represents the majority. The second highest category is lower-level management employment and is 30% from the sample.

According to the length of service category used, among respondents, 33% of employees have 5-10 years’ experience in the organizations.

According to the education level of the employees, among respondents, 170 had a degree and as a percentage it was accounted as 44%. 161 (41%) respondents have completed A/L. It can be concluded that the majority of employees in Colombo district are literates. According to the analysis results for the working industry group, among respondents, 47% of employees working in industries while 35% employees working at the service provided companies in Colombo district. This denotes that most preferred employees are working in the industries to use Symmetrical internal communication to improve their performance.

Exploratory factor analysis

The exploratory factor analysis approach of SPSS was used in this study to find the primary characteristics of symmetrical internal communication that are present in organizational employees in order to improve their performance at work in the Colombo District.

KMO and Bartlett’s test

Table 2: KMO and Bartlett’s test

KMO and Bartlett’s Test

The KMO and Bartlett’s test is crucial in determining whether or not a sample is adequate.

Furthermore, Bartlett’s test Sphericity pertains to the study’s importance, demonstrating the validity and applicability of the responses collected to the topic being addressed. In this study, the KMO value is 8.63. Factors analyzed using principal component analysis with VARIMAX rotation to identify characteristics of Symmetrical Internal Communication on Employee performance. According to extraction results, the most significant factor is “Organization clearly explains the vision for this organization.”.  It is shown by the highest component value of 0.644.

To identify the strength of the relationship between dependent and independent variables of the study:

Table 3:  Pearson Correlation Analysis

Correlations

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The P value (2-tailed) for a significant correlation should be less than or equal to 0.01. All P values in this study’s correlation results are less than 0.01. As a result, they’re all really important. With a p value of 0.000 and a coefficient of correlation of 0.391, Trust has a significant positive link with Employee Performance. As a result, H1 was approved. Furthermore, with a p value of 0.000 and a coefficient of correlation of 0.341, Transparent shows a very significant positive link with Employee Performance. As a result, H2 is approved. The relationship between Consistency and Employee Performance has a P value of 0.000 and a correlation coefficient of 0.356. The findings show that consistency and Employee performance intent have a high significant positive relationship. As a result, H3

Regression Analysis

A set of statistical techniques for analyzing relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables is known as regression analysis. It can be used to determine the strength of a relationship between variables as well as predict how they will interact in the future. (Source: 2015 CFI)

Table 4: ANOVA

ANOVA^a

a. Dependent Variable: EP

b. Predictors: (Constant), Consistency, Trust, Transparent

In this regression Anova table the P value is 0.000. So, the results are highly significant, and it indicates that independent variables are jointly influenced on Dependent Variable, Employee Performance. As the Anova significant this is a valid modal, and it can be used.

Table 5: Coefficient

Coefficients^a

a. Dependent Variable: EP

Trust has a P value of 0.000 and an individual B value of 0.254. It shows that trust has a strong and favorable impact on employee performance. Transparent has a P value of 0.853 and Individual B value of 0.010. It shows that transparent has a strong and favorable impact on employee performance. Consistency has a P value of 0.006 and Individual B value of 0.124. It means that the P value of consistency is considerable, and that it has an impact on employee performance.

The most inflecting dimension on Employee Performance on Trust, according to Standardized Coefficient Beta. It has a Standardized Coefficient Beta of 0.300 Consistency is the next item on the list. Transparency has a lower impact on employee performance. It has a Standardized Coefficient Beta of 0.014

Figure: Normal Q-Q Plot of Employee Performance

The majority of the residuals in this Normal P Plot are close to the linear line. It denotes residuals that have a 0 point mean value and are regularly distributed.

Hypothesis Testing

• HO1: There is no significant impact on the Trust and the Employee Performance.
• Ha1: There is a significant impact on the Trust and the Employee Performance.

The association between Trust and Employee Performance had a P value of 0.001 in a correlation analysis. It implies that there is a link between transparent and Employee Performance. When Employee Performance is the dependent variable, the P value of Trust is 0.000 and the Individual B value of Trust is 0.254 in regression analysis. It also demonstrates that Trust has an effect on purchase intent. So, based on the results of correlation and regression analysis, we can accept Ha1 and reject H01.

The impact of Transparent on Employee Performance is the subject of the second null and alternative hypotheses. Those are the ones,

• HO2: There is no Significant impact on Transparent and the Employee Performance
• Ha2: There is a Significant impact on Transparent and the Employee Performance

The P value of the association between customer involvement and purchase intention was less than 0.001 in correlation analysis. It implies that there is a link between Transparent and the Employee Performance. Transparency has a P value of 0.853 and an Individual B value of .010 in regression analysis. It shows that Transparent has a P value and has an impact on Employee Performance. So, based on the results of correlation and regression analysis, we can rule out Ha2 and accept H02.

The impact of Consistency on Employee Performance is the subject of the final null and alternative hypotheses. Those are the ones,

• H03: there is a no significant relationship with the Consistency and the Employee Performance
• Ha3: there is a significant relationship with the Consistency and the Employee Performance

The P value of the link between Consistency and Employee Performance was less than 0.001 in correlation analysis. It implies that there is a link between Consistency and Employee Performance. The P value of consistency in regression analysis is less than 0.006 and the Individual B value is 0.124. The results of consistency are quite significant, and they have an impact on employee performance. So, based on the results of correlation and regression analysis, we can accept Ha3 and reject H03.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This study was done to accomplish two research objectives. The first objective is to find out how Symmetrical Internal communication affects employee performance in Colombo District. The descriptive analysis technique is used to analyze the general data of the employees. Mean, median, tables, charts, figures and graphs were used to analyze and interpret the data.

The second goal is to identify, analyze, and quantify the link between symmetrical internal communication and employee performance. The researcher used previous models as a foundation for developing a new model to identify the most important parameters relating to symmetrical internal communication in the Colombo District, and ensured the model’s dependability through a pilot test. The selected determinants were confirmed using an exploratory factor analysis in SPSS to investigate the level of influence of determinants on organizational employee performance. The components were analyzed and the extraction results were aggregated using the SPSS Dimension Reduction technique.

Increasing employee engagement through improving the internal communication will be a successful attempt to the organization. As a result, management should consider some recommendations as given below.

Trust, transparency, and consistency are some of the factors affecting the performance of an employee. Through the following factors, organizations can improve internal communication and enhance employee engagement, Ability to develop appropriate policies and procedures, Making the Mission and vision clear to the employees, Ability to make “sticky” information accessible, By strengthening the connections between employees and departments, Keep employees up-to-date on company changes, progress and future plans, Create opportunities for employees to meet outside of the office, Use the best people to share or deliver important messages or information, Cultivate clear Communication Channels between employees, Speed up Communication to perform tasks quickly, Create a Digital Workplace Strategy that Reaches All Employees, Treat the employees like an audience.

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