Organizational Communication and Employee Performance in Selected Large Manufacturing Businesses in Eritrea

Abstract

Business organizations face challenges of increasing productivity in a competitive market. Particularly, the performance of the manufacturing businesses in Eritrea has been low and thus their contribution to the GDP of the country is low and this affects the economy of the country. Therefore, they need to ensure that employees are performing as intended. In this case, a proficient and integrated organizational communication can sustain employee performance in the manufacturing sector. This study examined the influence of organizational communication on employee performance in selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. This study was conducted using four objectives, namely: to establish the influence of communication patterns on employee performance, to determine the influence of communication structure on employee performance, to examine the influence of communication medium on employee performance, and finaly to investigate the influence of communication climate on employee performance in selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. To address these objectives, the study was guided by five theories: the human relation theory, the social network theory, the media richness theory, the structuration theory, and the theory of performance. This study followed a convergent parallel mixed method design. The target population for this study was the employees of the selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. For the quantitative aspects of this study, 267 employees were selected using proportionate stratified random sampling technique and for the qualitative aspects, 21 employees were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview for the quantitative and qualitative aspects respectively. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using both the descriptive (percentages) and inferential statistical analysis (correlation, regression and ANOVA) methods. The qualitative data was analyzed based on the indentified themes summarized and narrated. Triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data as well as the theorietical concepts was done. The study findings show that there is statistically significant relationship between communication patterns and employee performance, communication structure and employee performance, communication medium and employee performance, as well as communication climate and employee performance. Therefore, the study concluded that communication patterns, communication structure, communication medium, and communication climate have direct influence on employee performance in the selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. The overall finding of the study also shows that there is a statistically significant relationship between organizational communication and employee performance in the selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. Hence, the study concluded that organizational communication has direct influence on employee performance in the selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea. Therefore, the study recommended that the selected large manufacturing businesses in Eritrea should make the communication patterns so effective, adopt a communication structure that connects employees from different directions or levels that ensures effective information flows, provide the various options of communication media including the technological media to ensure effective information delivery, and create a suitable communication climate that minimizes communication barriers.